BUENOS AIRES: The World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday produced a stunning performance to overwhelm second seed Cameron Norrie in the final to claim the Argentina Open title.
The World No. 2 overwhelmed Cameron Norrie, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, 6-3, 7-5 to claim his seventh ATP Tour title.
“I felt very comfortable playing the final. I knew that it was going to be really difficult. I started really focussed on what I had to do at the beginning, my game, my level. This is the level that I have to play in finals,” ATP.com quoted Alcaraz as saying in post-match.
In his first match back against Laslo Djere at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, Alcaraz only dropped one set in four triumphs. Alcaraz decreased his record in tour-level finals to 7-2 and cut Novak Djokovic’s lead to 590 points in the ATP Live Rankings.
The 19-year-old turned a 3-0 deficit early in the match against Norrie into a 6-3 lead by winning seven straight games as a result of his unrelenting pressure. Alcaraz did not encounter a break point until a tense 5-3 game, when he failed to serve out the match.
At 5-5 and down 0/15, the Spaniard courageously roped a forehand swinging volley to reclaim the point. The longest game of the tournament was the following one, in which Alcaraz persevered through two deuces to win with a forehand drop shot that he used again all week.
Alcaraz is off to a fast start in 2023 after winning his maiden tour-level championship in 2021 (Umag) and five more the previous year. He equalled Gustavo Kuerten for second place in the ATP Rankings and became the first Spaniard to win the Buenos Aires trophy since Rafael Nadal in 2015.
He also became the highest-ranked winner in tournament history. Casper Ruud, who won the competition in 2020 at the age of 21, was the youngest winner prior to Alcaraz.
With the loss, Norrie’s record in tour-level finals dropped to 4-9, but his three triumphs this week tied him with Stefanos Tsitsipas for the season’s most tour-level wins with 13. (ANI)