Indian Wells Alcaraz returns to Indian Wells, where he announced his explosion in 2022: "I'm not at all worried"
Forceful, solid, devastating with the forehand by bars and with a service with which he does more and more damage.
Jimmy Connors
, American tennis legend, nodded with a satisfied smile from the stands in front of
Carlos Alcaraz
's sticks .
"He won the US Open for a reason. And that's why I came here today, to see him play," he told EL MUNDO just before the Murcian dispatched Thanasi Kokkinakis, number 94 in the world
and
regular doubles partner, on the fast track.
of the always controversial Nick Kyrgios.
His victory in 76 minutes by 6-3 and 6-3 puts him in the third round of Indian Wells
with his two objectives intact: lifting his first crown in the so-called "big fifth" of the ATP, and recovering the number one in the world that he held for 19 weeks.
The one from El Palmar came out plugged in.
It is evident that
he has put the injury behind him with which he ended the Rio de Janeiro final 15 days ago
, in which he lost to Britain's Cameron Norrie.
He forced three break
balls
on the Australian's first serve and began to put ground in the middle immediately.
It seemed like a brief debut for Alcaraz in the Californian desert.
The first set was scored in 33 minutes 6-3 with hardly any unforced errors and without leaving any room for his rival to warm up.
The first duel between the two had no history.
It is true that Kokkinakis came from starring in one of the matches of the last Australian Open.
The 5 hours and 45 minutes against Andy Murray in the second round meant, despite the defeat, a promising start for a player who has never finished shining in the individual category.
At 26 years old, he has not managed to get past 69th place in the world ranking and has only one title in the bag
, that of Adelaide in 2022, his hometown.
From the previous game, Kokkinakis hinted that he saw himself with few options for victory.
"It's not just that he doesn't have any weaknesses, but he just plays with great energy," de Alcaraz said.
"He plays tennis the right way. He's always awake, he's always smiling
. I think the crowd loves to see him because the energy from him is almost contagious
."
hellish rhythm
The Spaniard, installed in an infernal rhythm, never stopped feeling master and master of the clash.
He even quelled his opponent's comeback attempts early in the second set
.
Kokkinakis displayed a more aggressive tennis that barely served him to maintain a certain sensation of parity for a few minutes.
By the third game the Murcian had already broken his serve, heading towards an inevitable outcome.
Twenty minutes later, he had already accomplished the goal of spending little time on the track and recovering sensations after the defeat against Norrie in Brazil.
His next rival will be the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, number 36 in the world
, with whom he faced off at Wimbledon last year.
He won the Spanish in three sets.
He shouldn't be a problem, seeing his progression.
There is no doubt that Alcaraz's game is gaining integers.
Just a few months ago he played on track 6 or 7 in Indian Wells in the morning hours and now he
is the main claim of the tournament, in the absence of Nadal and Djokovic on the track.
He already has a Grand Slam and 7 ATP titles in his bag at just 19 years old.
"He plays like Djokovic. Solid," said Connors.
Master's word.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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