A desperate Alcaraz says goodbye to Canada and a reborn Davidovich sneaks into the semifinals | Sports

One of lime and one of sand for the Spaniards on the day of the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Toronto because the results of the Murcians and Andalusians were different. In fact, they were on opposite sides. Alcaraz, uncomfortable and blocked, again made way for Tommy Bol (17th in the ranking) and Davidovich, smiling and calm, got rid of MacDonald (59th in the ranking) classification). The man from Malaga easily sneaks into the semi-finals while the No. 1 fades away amidst the screaming and blaming. The roles seem to have been swapped because Alcaraz has never been seen so angry and Davidovich so calm before. The man from Malaga has reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final on hard courts with Alex de Minaur waiting for him (this Saturday, not before 8:30pm on Movistar+) and the man from El Palmar heads to Cincinnati to confirm his victory. First place in the US Open.

Alcaraz can no longer avoid defeat after walking into the abyss against Hurkacz last night. Not in tune and with bad feelings again from the start, as if he couldn't quite feel the ball, the Spaniard dropped his serve in the first game and the scene of the first two games was repeated. This time against Tommy Ball, quick as a cat, occupying the entire court and getting inside while rotating better with his hand Driving. The American liked the Spaniard's annoyance, who just shook his head. After a double fault from the first player, Paul took the first set 6-3 in 41 minutes, much to the frustration of Carlitos, who threw his racket on the bench, desperate without fully understanding what was happening.

“Carlos, you can't miss this!”

The Spaniard was unable to attack for a moment, he was overwhelmed, and could find no solution until he exploded in a way he had never seen before: “I can't, I can't, I just can't!” Only the decibels made the decibels higher, and he could have very little feeling“It's unbelievable!” he scolded himself loudly. His seat, the skeptic, did not know what to respond to such a negative spiral as Paul, as if he were a secondary actor, observed Number One's self-destruction.

The Toronto stands went cold at the sight of such an unknown version of Murcian, until suddenly, when no one expected it, he pulled one of his tricks: he got winner It hit under the legs and caused people to roar. Carlitos laughed, for the first time in the entire match, and raised his arm in a gesture more like an apology than a celebration. No one expected this turn of events, the change in the Spaniard’s face and the return of that wounded pride, that inner epic, to appear on stage for the umpteenth time. He broke Paul's serve and, inexplicably, Alcaraz won the second set again, 6-4.

The match entered a new dimension and the powers evened out with a relaxed Carlitos, but Paul, still in a fixed position, was not intimidated by Murcian's change of stance and broke for a 5-2 lead. For the third time this week, and on the most complicated night, the player from El Palmar had no other choice but to fight again. However, there was no more epic in the number one racket and, as happened last year, the American won the match in which the Spaniard's emotions collapsed.

Carlos Alcaraz, who has never felt so comfortable during his journey across Canada, leaves Toronto. Although he won't have much time to regret it because next week he will have to perform in Cincinnati with Novak Djokovic returning. There he will have another chance to claim first place in his defense of the US Open.

Davidovich: More zen than ever

Quite the opposite happened at noon in Toronto, as the new Davidovich, who, after the Wimbledon debacle, entered the penultimate round in Canada with a calm and inhospitable mentality in a player who had always been volcanic and erratic, was wandering around on Center Court. The man from Malaga enjoyed a strong and stable victory over American McDonald, 6-4, 6-2, in an hour and 36 minutes. Something had changed in Alejandro because when the darkness fell over him, after that serve at 8-8 in the excellent equalizer against Ron at Wimbledon, the man from Malaga in Canada emerged with a new aura. His facial expressions on court say it all and his results show it: before defeating MacDonald, he gave Wolff no choice in the first round (6-0, 6-2), swept Zverev in the second (6-1, 6-2) and resisted Ruud in the round of 16. (7-6(4), 4-6 and 7-6(4)).

“I want to smile more and more, because when I smile I feel as if my game is flowing through my body. If I am happy, my game will succeed. If I am angry, I cannot win a point,” said the Spaniard, although for Fuki the change occurred outside Pitch: “Good routine and good habits are the most important thing. I was spending my free time on social media, and I realized that I was wasting a lot of time. “I started reading this summer.”

Davidovic reaches the semi-finals for the first time in 2023 and secures his seeding in New York after rising to 23rd in the world rankings, the best position of his career. In addition to submitting his candidacy for the title, he seeks salvation and maintaining the stability that was demonstrated throughout the week in Toronto. With his new smile, the Malaga player will have the opportunity to show that a change in his mentality can take him back to the Masters 1000 final.

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