Alcaraz, on the madness with Basilashvili in Vienna: “That tiebreak was a roller coaster”

Carlos Alcaraz He experienced two very different parts of his round of 16 match of the ATP 500 indoor tournament on hard court against the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili. He was on his way to a devastating defeat, with 6-1 and 3-2, but he paid for a bad game and got into a problem that could have been bigger if he hadn’t had a crazy tiebreak.

The Spanish player won by 6-1 and 7-6 (13-11). From a tennis festival, sweeping, to a dramatic resolution, having to lift four set points before having four to decide the match in their favor.

This Friday, not before 3:00 p.m., confrontation with the American Tommy Paulwhom he dominates 7-2 in the record, 2-0 this same season.

He avoided a dangerous third set with Basilashvili and left center court satisfied. “I played a great game from start to finish, I feel happy with my performance,” he summarized.

In the initial set he bordered on perfection. “I hit the ball incredible, I felt great on the court. I didn’t let him play his style, he couldn’t hurt me.”

Everything changed in the fifth game of the second set, when he suffered the break to 3-3. “Everything was the same as the first set until that game, in which I made a couple of mistakes and I let him get back into the match. From there, everything was very even, with him serving very well,” he said. Alcaraz.

The tiebreak arrived, first with 4-1 for Basilashvili and then four set points for the Georgian, who in the fourth had a very clear volley, but complicated his life with an unexpected touch that went directly to Alcaraz.

This one also had a hard time closing in his favor, he did it on the fourth chance. “This tiebreak was a roller coaster. He had some easy balls to take the set, I also had clear opportunities to close it. In the end I achieved it, happy with how I fought and also for having won in two sets.”