Google News
Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the fourth round of the 2023 Miami Open, thanks to a victory against Dusan Lajovic, whom he met again in Miami, after just over a month. Defeats by two sets in both matches, but in the third round of the US Masters 1000 the surface changed and it went hard, where the world number one won the first ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.
The Spaniard, just before the match, was praised by his opponent, who explained to the microphones of atptour.com that the comparison with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal does not hold up for now, but the qualities of the Grand Slam champion are however infinite.
He told: "I can't compare him to Roger, Novak and Rafa, but he has something unique and that's how much he likes to be in a top pressure situation. He has great shots, intuition and feels the ball spectacularly, but most importantly and what sets him apart from the rest of the tennis players is how he manages to bring out his best game in difficult moments.
He enjoys the environment and grows up, he's much more mature than his age indicates."
The challenge in Miami
Lajovic had arrived at this challenge after beating the American Maxime Cressy, the man who holds the serve and volley, and in the third match of the Miami Open he faced Carlos Alcaraz for the third time.
Praise aside, the last two outings of this year, on South American red clay, have resulted in two defeats for the Serbian, who said in view of this new challenge.
He said before losing the match against Alcaraz: "I'll try to change some things to see if something bothers him.
I really want to compete against him and I hope to enjoy the experience." Apart from the two matches in February, only one precedent is added to the two knockouts this season: second round match at the 2022 Australian Open, with the Spanish tennis player, in full swing of his career, victorious against the Serbian in three sets.