{"id":306229,"date":"2023-06-09T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=306229"},"modified":"2023-06-09T21:59:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T21:59:30","slug":"nervous-alcaraz-crashes-in-ultimate-djoker-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=306229","title":{"rendered":"'Nervous' Alcaraz crashes in ultimate Djoker test"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, not Novak Djokovic<\/a>, who conjured up the \u201cHow did he do that?!\u201d shot in the semi-finals that went viral in minutes and will be talked about for years.<\/p>\n

It was Alcaraz, 20, not Djokovic, 36, who had youth on his side, of course, the widest gap between Grand Slam semi-finalists since 1991. It was Alcaraz, not Djokovic, who complained to his coach in the early going on Court Philippe Chatrier that the points weren't long enough to wear down his opponent.<\/p>\n

Watch Roland-Garros 2023 live and free on <\/strong>9now<\/strong><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

And yet it was Alcaraz, not Djokovic, who succumbed to the heat and the intensity and, by his own admission, the nerves of the occasion. It was Alcaraz, not Djokovic, whose body broke down. And so it is the No. 3 seed Djokovic, not No. 1 Alcaraz, who will play on in Paris with a chance to add to his trophy collection.<\/p>\n

Using every bit of his superiority in experience and fitness, Djokovic beat a cramping Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to reach his 34th major final. That allowed Djokovic to move closer to a 23rd Grand Slam championship, which would break a tie with rival Rafael Nadal for the men's record.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand the emotions and circumstances that affect you mentally and emotionally. … Maybe for the first time in his career, he was expected to win,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cIt's a part of the learning curve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Score one for the old guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI've never felt the tension that I did in that match,\u201d said Alcaraz, who said the stress he sensed because of the stakes, and the daunting foe across the net, caused cramps in \u201cevery part of my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Blows keep coming for NSW as Walker injury confirmed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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READ MORE:<\/strong> Smith's ridiculous record at English Test venue<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been in that situation multiple times,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cMore than me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Djokovic will meet No. 4 Casper Ruud, who eliminated No. 22 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.<\/p>\n

Ruud will be playing in his third final at the past five majors \u2014 including in Paris a year ago, when he lost to Nadal \u2014 but is still seeking his first such trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tired to play without too many feelings,\u201d Ruud said, \u201cwithout too much pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nadal was absent from his favorite tournament this year because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery last week.<\/p>\n

That left most people focusing on two men: Djokovic, who has won 10 of the past 19 majors, and Alcaraz, who won the U.S. Open in September. Djokovic is one of the dominant figures in the sport\u2019s history; Alcaraz is considered its future.<\/p>\n

They sure put on a show for two exhilarating, exhausting sets, with fans breaking into chants of both men's nicknames: \u201cNo-le!\u201d and \u201cCar-li-tos!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went toe-to-toe,\u201d Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

Watch Roland-Garros 2023 from May 28. Every match ad free and on demand. <\/strong>Centre court coverage in 4K UHD on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He was at his stretching, sliding best, whipping groundstrokes that pushed Alcaraz all over the place. Alcaraz, somehow, chased just about everything down, his speed and instinct as good as there is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him that he\u2019s got plenty of time, and that I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to win Roland Garros multiple times in the future. I have no doubt about it,\u201d Djokovic said of their conversation when the match was over. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s an amazing player. Just possesses so much qualities. So dynamic. So much power in his shots. Very complete player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing was as memorable as THAT shot by Alcaraz. It was the shot of the day, of the tournament, of the year, reminiscent of one conjured up by Roger Federer on the same court years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It arrived at 1-all in the second set. Having lured Alcaraz forward, Djokovic sent the ball toward the baseline. Many a player would have given up on the point and chosen to move onto the next. Or perhaps attempted to get there but failed. Alcaraz gave chase, running with his back to the net, then sliding beyond the baseline, his left foot bending as he came to a halt and spun his body around, leaning backward in order to lace a forehand past Djokovic for a winner.<\/p>\n

As the crowd roared and rose for an ovation to celebrate the feat, Alcaraz raised his left hand and briefly jutted his index finger into the \u201cNo. 1\u201d gesture.<\/p>\n

He smiled a wide smile.<\/p>\n

Even Djokovic had to smile, and used his racket to applaud.<\/p>\n

But soon, this highly anticipated match up devolved into something as anticlimactic as can be.<\/p>\n

Early in the third set, after nearly 2 1\/2 hours of exertion and tension, Alcaraz\u2019s body began to lock up. First, his hand cramped. Then his legs. After missing a forehand return to make the score 1-all, Alcaraz hopped on his left leg, then clutched his right calf. He dropped his racket. Chair umpire Aur\u00e9lie Tourte went over to check on him. So did Djokovic, walking all the way over to Alcaraz\u2019s side of the court.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A medical timeout for an injury \u2014 what the rulebook calls \u201can acute medical condition\u201d \u2014 during a match is allowed. But treatment for cramps when it isn\u2019t a changeover is not permitted without penalty. So Tourte told Alcaraz that he could sit on the sideline and get help from a trainer, but he would need to concede the following game, which he did.<\/p>\n

When play resumed with Djokovic ahead 2-1 in that set, the crowd jeered and whistled, until Tourte explained in French what was happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom that moment onwards,\u201d Djokovic said, \u201cit was a different match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz would only claim one more game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obvious that he was struggling with his movement. It\u2019s unfortunate for the crowd. It\u2019s unfortunate for the match of this importance for both of us," Djokovic said. \u201cBut that\u2019s sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

At his news conference, Djokovic was asked about some of the booing that perhaps was directed his way \u2014 and what his reaction was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind. It\u2019s not the first; probably not the last,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll just keep winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong> clicking here<\/strong><\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was Carlos Alcaraz, not Novak Djokovic, who conjured up the \u201cHow did he do that?!\u201d shot in the semi-finals that went viral in minutes […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306229"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=306229"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306242,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306229\/revisions\/306242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/306233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=306229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=306229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=306229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}