Unfortunately for Cerundolo, that’s exactly what happened. In this case, the entire match swung toward Alcaraz. From that point on, he was the one who controlled the court position, who dictated the patterns of the rallies, who broke serve at will, and who finished with a fully confident flurry of drop shots. He would lose just one more game in a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 win in 98 minutes.
“I didn’t start well, I made a lot of mistakes, let him play inside the court and dominate the points,” Alcaraz said.
“After the first set I had to do something else. I had to play more aggressively. I had to play my tennis.”
The biggest difference, Alcaraz said, was his determination to move up and “return close to the line.” That set the tone for the way he played the rest of a point.
