Alcaraz can’t finish the premiere in Rio because of the rain

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz was unable to complete his ATP clay-court debut in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on Tuesday after rain forced him to stop and abandon his match against him. Mateus Alves, who was close to elimination after winning the first set 6-4 and dominating the second 5-3.

Murcian, the top seed in the Brazilian event and defending champion, found himself in more trouble than expected against the world number 556 and was invited by the organisers, who put up a strong resistance but already looked set to give way up, bend the knees when unfavorable weather appears.

Alcaraz, the winner last Sunday in Buenos Aires in his first tournament after more than a hundred days of absence due to injury, was unable to find his best rhythm of the game in difficult conditions due to humidity and wind, connecting many winners, but also making mistakes forced more .

Namely, the man from El Palmar started the match with a break, although he knew how to react and immediately return it against an opponent who showed himself with a strong serve that helped him a lot, especially when he could play with the first. The Spaniard patiently endured his chance to break again in the seventh game and, despite the Brazilian’s resistance, he defended and took the set after 50 minutes.

It did not overly affect Alves, who continued to face the world number two, who also did not lose his composure despite continuing to find his best tennis and who seemed ever closer to victory with the new break in a game she seemed to control the South American. Alves still had the energy to recover the deficit after a bad next serve from his opponent, but he handed it over again and Alcaraz remained on the edge of the second round, prevented by heavy rain.

In addition, Barcelona’s Albert Ramos, the seventh favorite on the Brazilian red clay, could not finish his debut either, losing the first set 7-5 at the time of the break and leading 4-3, without breaks. Thus, the only tennis player from Navy who was able to play this day was Roberto Carballés from Tenerife, who could not play with Argentine Francisco Cerundola, the fourth seed (4-6, 6-3, 6-3).