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Carlos Alcaraz is one of the most cherished players because of his character on and off the court. But his on-court style of play has won him more love from fans and fellow players on tour. Mirra Andreeva revealed that she and her coach, Conchita Martinez, were inspired by the Spaniard’s drills before his third-round match.
Before going on to the court, Alcaraz usually does his intense and sometimes intricate warm-up routines with his fitness coach, Juanjo Moreno. Part of the routine includes juggling three balls with a member of his team. He has become used to the routine and has helped shape him into the player he is today.
He has won a total of four Grand Slams in his career and has been impressive this season on clay. In fact, he has only lost one match on the surface this season. After the drills, he went on to beat Laslo Djere in straight sets to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open. It was his second match at the tournament, and he’s yet to drop a set.
After Andreeva defeated Linda Noskova on Sunday (May 11), as she was going to the locker room, she watched Alcaraz warming up for his match. She revealed during his press conference that she and her coach, Conchita Martinez, copied some of the routines.
I love his reflex exercises, and we have copied some of them with Conchita. Thanks to her, I can say a few words in Spanish, so I wished Carlos good luck after he congratulated me. For now, we have only reached that point; maybe we’ll improve in the future.
Mirra Andreeva said via Rome Press
Alcaraz is into his first Rome Masters round of 16 and wil now face Karen Khachanov next. He will hope to be at the Russian and continue with his clay form ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 25.
Mirra Andreeva battles hard to beat Linda Noskova in the third round of the Italian Open
Mirra Andreeva had to fight hard to get past Linda Noskova in their third-round tie on Sunday (May 11). The Russian claimed the first set easily with a 6-1 win but was down 2-4 early in the second set. At one point, she was 3-5 down but had to win five of her last six games to claim a 6-1, 7-5 victory against the No. 30 seed.
I felt like in the first set, I was playing well but she also missed a lot of points. My goal was just to put as many balls in the court as possible. In the second set, she started to really play aggressive and her shots started to go in. It was much, much harder to play against her. I tried to focus on trying to run for every ball that she sends, just playing as deep as possible to kind of build the point and create opportunities to attack.
Mirra Andreeva said via Tennis.com
While the match was 3-5 in favor of Noskova the match was set to go into the third set. However, Andreeva had to talk to herself into finding her way back into the match and then snatching the winner after an hour and twenty-three minutes.
I was like, ‘Please, Mirra. Do everything you can. Just don’t go into a third set.
Mirra Andreeva said
Andreeva will now look forward to continuing with her run at the Italian Open. She’s yet to reach a clay-court tournament semi-final this season. She will take on Clara Tauson in the round of 16 of the Italian Open, a rematch of the Dubai Tennis Championships final in February. It was in Dubai that Andreeva won her first WTA 1000 title, before going on to win Indian Wells a month later.
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Watch: Carlos Alcaraz Spotted Playing Tennis With Younger Brother After Canadian Open Withdrawal
Lorenzo Musetti Discusses the Challenges of Having Too Much Variety in the Game
Four of the top six ranked players and a dozen of the top 45 have withdrawn from the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the North American hard court swing. Those absences have left the draw wide open at the National Bank Open with several players ranked outside the top 40 getting seeds and first-round byes, and similar effects. Lorenzo Musetti, who is currently No. 7 in the world rankings, is seeded third for Toronto and has gotten a very good draw, wherein he will not meet a top 10 ranked player until the semifinal. The favorable draw comes at a good time for Musetti, who is hoping to regain his form after shocking opening round exits in his last two tournaments i.e. at the Wimbledon Championships and the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Musetti will be looking to capitalize in the absence of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper and Novak Djokovic in Toronto, where he has no points to defend. He decided to skip the tournament last year due to the Paris Olympics, where he clinched the bronze medal defeating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. It marked Italy’s second Olympic tennis medal. Further in the North American hard court swing, Musetti has 50 points to defend at the Cincinnati Open and 100 points in the US Open. Ahead of the Canadian Open, the Italian No. 2 opened up about a challenging facet of his game during the press conference: My tennis is sometimes complicated. I have so many variations, and choosing the right one is often difficult. I find myself in situations where I have to make a choice, and like driving, it’s never easy to make the best choice. The 23-year-old is known for the variety in his game, including his use of drop shots, defensive backhand slice, and serve and volley tactics. In surfaces like clay, his efficient and smooth one-handed backhand was well noted as he made it to the semifinals or better of every tournament he competed in during this year’s clay swing. Lorenzo Musetti sheds light on his motivation on tour Lorenzo Musetti also opened up about missing his family on tour. He has a one-year-old son Ludovico with his partner Veronica Confalonieri, who is also pregnant with their second child. They accompany him sometimes on tour and will next be there to support Musetti at the US Open. He added: For me, it is a motivation to do well for them, although sometimes it is very difficult, especially when I am far from them. Especially now that Ludovico is growing and starting to understand more, it is not easy. Fortunately, I also have Veronica, my partner, who truly understands my life and gives me all her support; that is the nicest feeling for me. Now in New York, they will come and join my team to finally be all together at a Grand Slam. At the Canadian Open, Musetti will be aiming for his second hard court title and his maiden Masters 1000 title. He reached his first Masters 1000 final earlier this year at the Monte Carlo Masters. However, he had a rather disappointing start to his North American hard court swing losing to Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in three sets in the opening round of the Washington Open. Norrie lost in the next round of the tournament in straight sets to USA’s Brandon Nakashima.
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