Shapovalov Upsets Etcheverry
Twenty-five year old Canadian Denis Shapovalov played on of his most accomplished matches this season, conquering twenty-sixth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7 – 6 (3), 6 – 3 and advancing to the third round of the Madrid Open event.
Shapovalov engaged thirty-three winners and launched eight aces to accumulate his second clay court win this year.
Shapovalov and Etcheverry engaged in a match saturated with high caliber playing, giving the crowd exhilarating baseline rallies on the clay courts of Madrid.
Shapovalov leveled the first strike, liberating a pair of early forehand winners to burst into a 2 – 1 lead. Twenty-four year old Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry promptly balanced the score.
The opening set remained level until 5-all as Shapovalov succeeded by hitting successive winners from the backhand side. With a subtle drop shot winner the Canadian anchored a break to love.
The Argentinian reacted by saving a set point and hitting a running forehand pass to break back and force a tiebreak.
Shapovalov accrued the upper hand by dominating three sequential points to build a 5 – 2 lead, before concluding the set 7 – 6 (3).
Shapovalov kept up his restrained assaultiveness in the second by hitting a pair of pristine winners to break for a 3 – 1 lead, despite garnering twelve double faults over the course of the match.
With an immaculately calculated lob winner positioning him well in the final game and a final forehand strike that hit the baseline in a forced error from Etcheverry, Shapovalov was able to ensure the victory.
Alcaraz Defeats Shevchenko
Twenty year old top seed, and one of the favorites to win Madrid Open, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated twenty-three year old Russian Alexander Shevchenko following withdrawals from Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to a right forearm injury. He is in search of his third straight title.
Carlos Alcaraz eradicated any lingering injury concerns as he commenced his third straight pursuit for a Madrid Open title by winning against Alexander Shevchenko 6 – 2, 6 – 1.
Following the match, Alcaraz signed to the camera the message: “Estamo de vuelta”.
While still on the court after his win, Alcaraz stated, “I think I did pretty well. The last month I just practiced slices, volleys, some backhands. It all worked pretty well today. I was thinking about hitting the forehand softer, lets say, and being more aggressive with the backhand, attacking the net as soon as possible. I think I had a good match in that part”.
Zverev Dominates Coric
Twenty-seven year old number 5 German Alexander Zverev conquers twenty-seven year old number 39 Croatian Borna Coric 6 – 3, 6 – 4 to advance to the third round of the Madrid Open.
The fourth seed exhibited his dramatic clay court daringness after a disheartening loss last week at the BMW Munich Open.
At the start of the first set both players were evenly matched, but with the score tied at 2 – 2, Zverev had the first break point of the match.
However, Coric pulled through the harsh moment and went ahead 3 – 2.
Zverev was unstoppable with a 70% first serve percentage and winning 86% of those points. He, and one of the won four straight games, including two breaks, to take the first set 6 – 3.
In the second set Coric improved his service games but still struggled with the return and consistently found himself under pressure during long rallies from Zverev.
With the score tied at 2 – 2, Zverev secured two breaks and offered no chances on his own serve. He impressively closed out the match 6 – 3, 6 – 2.
