Carlos Alcaraz opens his defense of the Croatia Open title with a straight-sets win over Norbert Gombos
Carlos Alcaraz opens his defense of the Croatia Open title with a straight-sets win over Norbert Gombos: Carlos Alcaraz was the top seed at the Playa Laguna Croatia Open. He successfully launched the defense of his Croatian title. He won the title with a straight sets victory over Norbert Gombos.
He eased past Norbert Gombos 6-2, 6-3 to start the defense of his first Association of Tennis Professionals title.
The 19-year-old Spaniard beat the Slovak and is set to face Facundo Bagnis of Argentina. Bagnis won with a 6-3 6-1 victory over French qualifier Corentin Moutet.
Alcaraz became the youngest player after the great Rafal Nadal to break into the world’s top-five rankings on Monday. He managed to wrap up the match in one-hour and 38-minutes.
For Gombos, it became frustrating as he continuously chased the ball around the court. He made several attempts to stem the flow of aggressive play from the new world No.5.
He lost, but he did succeed in giving Alcaraz several difficult moments. The teenager, Alcaraz, had to fend off seven break points.
However, Alcaraz managed to concede that the actual scoreline did not really reflect the match.
“It was a really tough match,” Alcaraz comments. He expressed his opinion on the match calling it tedious as reached the last eight for his eighth quarter-final appearance of the year.
“It wasn’t as easy as the result seems.”
“Norbert played a really good game and the first round (his opening match following a first-round bye) of every tournament is never easy, so I had to get used to the conditions.”
“It was tough for me, but in the end, I found a way to play better and get the win.”
The win did ease his pain of losing in the European Open final in Hamburg last Sunday. It was his first loss in a title round. He is now focusing on his preparations to take on Bagnis for a place in the semis in Umag.
“I played against him [Bagnis] in challengers, I remember we played tough matches,” Alcaraz recollected.
“I know him so well, and he is a great player on clay, so it is going to be a really tough match, but I am going to try to show my best.”
The other quarter-finals featured Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles against Italy’s Guilio Zeppieri. The eighth-seeded Loreznos Musetti (who beat Alcaraz in Hamburg last Sunday) was defeated by Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 6-4 6-3. Marco now faces a third Italian, also a qualifier, Franco Agamenone. Franco battled past the fourth-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina.
The last match is set to pitch the second seed Jannick Sinner of Italy against Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena. He is the only player who can prevent an Italian from reaching the final!
Alcaraz is at 25-3 on clay this season. He will face Facundo Bagnis of Argentina on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
Results from the Association of Tennis Professionals tournament in Umag on Thursday:
Second Round
- Carlos Alcaraz (ESP x1) defeated Norbert Gombos (SVK) 6-2, 6-3
- Facundo Bagnis (ARG) defeated Corentin Moutet (FRA) 6-3, 6-1
- Marco Cecchinato (ITA) defeated Lorenzo Musetti (ITA x8) 6-4, 6-3
- Franco Agamenone (ITA) defeated Sebastian Baez (ARG x4) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5