Rome, Italy – Carlos Alcaraz again demonstrated why he’s tennis’ most determined young gun by pushing both a feisty foe, Karen Khachanov, and his body to the limit to secure a place in the next round of the Rome Masters.
In an exhausting match of momentum swings and punishing rallies, Alcaraz won after three grueling sets.
Alcaraz conceded after the match that the struggle wore his body out, even though he wasn’t suffering from any particular injury. “Physically, I was suffering a little bit,” he explained. “I didn’t feel any pain in any part of the body. But it was just exhausting. The match was very difficult. I had to move around a lot.”
In spite of the exhaustion, the 21-year-old Spaniard showed his signature determination and grit, racing around to cover balls and converting defense into offense when the situation demanded so.
His ability to move and shot under pressure assisted him in outlasting Khachanov, who was playing at his best towards the end of the second set.
Mental Focus Tested in the Second Set For Carlos Alcaraz
After getting ahead with a break in the second set, Alcaraz seemed to lose focus, which permitted Khachanov to rally and force a tiebreaker. “I was a break up in the 2nd set. From that to the end of the 2nd set I probably lost focus a bit. He started playing great,” he said.
Khachanov’s forceful play, and accurate serving kept him on the back foot. Yet, the Spaniard soon re-grouped between sets and started the decider with fresh intent and vigor.
Carlos Alcaraz attributed his win to sheer grit. He said, “Just really happy to forget [the second set] and try to come into the 3rd set as well as I can. I think I did pretty well. I just fought. I’m happy about that.”
His grit carried him through eventually, producing a performance that serves to reassert his standing as one of the tour’s top players.