Alcaraz reigns in Buenos Aires as soon as he returns to the circuit

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Better impossible. World number two Carlos Alcaraz made a perfect return to the circuit on Sunday after more than three months out by becoming the Argentine Open champion, beating Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 7-5.

“It’s been a great week. It’s a very happy moment for me, my first tournament after the US Open and being unemployed for almost four months…” Alcaraz said of winning his first Grand Slam title last September.

The Spaniard had just recovered from an abdominal injury and muscle problem in his right leg, which kept him out of the Australian Open last month. He chose to appear on clay at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club to find his rhythm for his next two commitments, the tournaments in Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco.

Big favorite of the Argentine capital, Alcaraz added his seventh title to his ninth final. His coronation at the US Open allowed him to become the youngest man in history to reach number one, at the age of 19.

It’s no news that the Murcian is a serious thing and he demonstrated it again on the Guillermo Vilas track, where he gave a tough rival like Norrie, second favorite and number 12 in the standings, virtually no options. , in front of some 5,000 spectators. .

With his victory, Alcaraz increased his lead to 4-1 in the history of confrontations with the Briton.

When he saw a crack of light, Alcaraz entered the game. It was in game seven, when he won four straight points to break and come back 4-3, coinciding with a pair of unforced errors from Norrie.

Until then, each had kept their serve without major setbacks, in what seemed to Alcaraz a long study cycle until they took the lead in the game.

In this streak towards the conclusion of the first round, there were nine consecutive points obtained by the Spaniard with his prodigious forehand and a large repertoire of strokes. And soon after, he took advantage of his second set point to seal the initial 6-3 in just 38 minutes.

In any case, Norrie, the first Briton to reach a final of the Argentinian tournament, did not give up easily. And the second set was far from a hasty process for the world number two.

Because despite the fact that Alcaraz broke for 2-0, when he served for 6-3 and the match, he made his own mistakes – including a double fault – and with the gladiator who lives with the British, who is coached by Argentinian Facundo Lugones.

In total, the Spaniard recovered two consecutive lost games in time to break again in the last and seal the set, in 1h33 of overall hour of play.

Norrie – born in Johannesburg to a Scottish father and a Welsh mother – wanted to claim his fifth title in his 13th ATP Finals. It was his second frustration in 2023, after losing in the final in Auckland.

This Alcaraz was too much for him, and probably for almost everyone who had faced him on Sunday.

“I fulfilled my goal by coming here,” said the unreleased champion in the Argentine capital. And when asked if he will be looking to reclaim the top spot in the rankings that Serbian Novak Djokovic took away from him when he won the Australian Open, Alcaraz replied: “Being number one is something. very big thing, I don’t want to put that pressure on myself, I prefer to think about playing well, and reaching my best level on all surfaces”

Before the singles final, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini became doubles champions. They had already done it in 2013.

The Italian duo won with force 6-2, 6-4 over the pair of Colombian Nicolás Barrientos and Uruguayan Ariel Behar.