Carlos Alcaraz and his compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut, squared off in the ‘Copa Carlos Alcaraz’ this Thursday night at the Palacio de los Deportes de Murcia. The match lived up to the high expectations from the start, with Alcaraz winning the first set in a tiebreak and Bautista’s face looking puzzled and satisfied after just an hour of play.
Although it would end differently, the second set would be much faster than the first. Bautista-Agut would go on to win the second set 1-6, taking advantage of Alcaraz’s growing fatigue to tie the match without much difficulty.
Alcaraz’s brilliance ultimately led to the win when he defeated Bautista-Agut in the third set’s super tiebreak. In 1 hour and 53 minutes, the Spaniard finished an exhibition to remember with scores of 7-6 (1), 1-6, and 10-7.
😅 Carlos Alcaraz se lleva la primera manga en el tie break con un puntazo en la red y Roberto Bautista no puede más que reírse. 7-6 en 1 hora. pic.twitter.com/w3zzfmYYFK
— Germán R. Abril (@gerebit0) December 28, 2023
🏆 La Copa Alcaraz se queda en Murcia.
Sacó lo que le quedaba en el depósito Alcaraz para deshacerse de Bautista en el súper tie break del tercer set. pic.twitter.com/UMqxduPPM6
— Germán R. Abril (@gerebit0) December 28, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
WLLWLWWWWW Ranked no.2, Carlos played his last match on the 18th of November when he capitulated to world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 in the semifinal in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).
At the moment, during this season the Spaniard has an overall 65-12 record. Alcaraz conquered 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Alcaraz got to the final in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.
Alcaraz is scheduled to compete next at the Australian Open (Australian Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 14th of January.
Roberto Bautista Agut in 2023
Now ranked no.57, the Spaniard played his last encounter on the 26th of November when he lost to world no.107 Fabio Fognini 3-6 7-6(8) 7-6(3) in the final of the Valencia Challenger (draw).
At present, during this year Bautista Agut has managed to achieve a 22-23 match record. Roberto Bautista Agut’s most significant performance of the current year was getting to the final in Adelaide and the Valencia Challenger.
He is also scheduled to play in Auckland (ASB Classic) on the 8th of January and Australian Open (Australian Open) on the 14th of January.
Carlos Alcaraz and Roberto Bautista Agut clashed against each other just 2 times. Their current head to head is 2-0 for Alcaraz. Before, the last time they competed against each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-3 7-5 in the 3rd round in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell) on the 20th of April 2023.
Here the video highlights.
