• Special Carlos Alcaraz, this is how he plays tennis

Carlos Alcaraz is still in a devastating plan. On Friday he added another beating to his records, with no sign of wear after scoring the first Masters 1,000 of the year in Indian Wells just five days ago. Of course, his victim this time was not a Top 10 like Daniil Medvedev but the world number 100 in the ranking, but the sensations were similar. The Murcian dismisses a kind of halo of unbeatability at the moment. The world number one got rid of Facundo Bagnis in two sets 6-0 and 6-2, heading towards a new feat. The umpteenth of his brief career.

If he wins Miami, where he already scored the triumph last year, not only will he maintain his place at the top of the throne of world tennis but he will achieve what no one has done being so young: take in the same year the Sunshine Double, Indian Wells and Miami, two Masters 1,000. Not even Rafa Nadal has made it. The Balearic continues to resist the Masters 1000 in Florida, where he has played five finals.

Alcaraz left Miami as plugged in as Indian Wells finished against Medvedev last Sunday. He broke his opponent's blank game and put ground in between immediately. Bagnis had to wait until the third game to score his first point, already with three more balls against that he could not lift. It smelled like a beating in a very short time and so it was, a game without history towards a third round where the winner of the match between Lajovic and Cressy will be measured.

The funny thing is that the Spaniard did not even sign a particularly brilliant match. Bagnis signed a match so mediocre that there was not the classic deployment of resources of the best racket of the moment. The Rosario was no match at any time for an Alcaraz in a state of grace.

He was very inaccurate, giving away points consistently, especially in the first set where he only scored seven points and made 19 unforced errors. At 33 years old, the Argentine seems to have entered a state of evident decline, far from his best, when he reached 55th place in the ranking in November 2016.

That, compared to a phenomenon of 19 years in full ascending streak is usually a bad combination. In just 12 minutes the score already reflected a blushing 4-0 and 10 minutes later he had already completed the first 'rosco' of his journey in the tournament.

The second partial started in a very similar way. Bagnis seemed so intimidated by having the Murcian in front of him that he was not able to spin two strokes of merit in a row. He gave up his serve again and was 2-0 down with a little more resistance than in the first set. He seemed focused on avoiding one of the greatest humiliations of his career. And that's it.

In fact, he celebrated as a triumph when he finally achieved his first game. He threw his racket into the air celebrating as if it were a title. The stands applauded the gesture. The small achievement gave him wings and he was even able to break the Spaniard's serve blank, putting the boards on the scoreboard momentarily. The joy was short-lived. Alcaraz corrected the course immediately and set the 4-2 to set course for the third round.

The world number one attributes his moment to the calm with which he faces each duel. "I don't feel the pressure too much. I know the things I have to do," he said at the pre-tournament press conference. "I need to play relaxed and I don't care if I lose or if I play well or not ... that's why I'm playing at a good level. I'm enjoying every second and playing relaxed. That's what I'm thinking about on the court."

According to The Trust Project criteria

Learn more

  • Carlos Alcaraz