Alcaraz, a Spanish all-around fighter who is competing in ATP 500 Rotterdam for the first time in his career, took two hours and 32 minutes in three sets against Dutch long-time Van der Shanchop in the first round yesterday morning, and achieved sweet revenge with a hard-fought victory. Alcaraz, who untied the knot, is even more worth looking forward to.

In the men's singles final of the Paris Olympics last year, Alcaraz lost to Serbian king Djokovic in a tie-break, and saw his opponent finally achieve the golden slam of his career and miss a great opportunity to win the gold medal for his country. Alcaraz was so unwilling that he shed tears of pain. Alcaraz came to North America for the season, first defeated by French veteran Monfils in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters, and then lost his armor in the second round of the US Open, and was swept by Dutch captain Van der Shanschupp in three sets. In this way, Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion, is out early at the 2024 US Open.

Dutch elder Van der Shanchop, starting from the 2024 US Open, seems to have formed an indissoluble bond with Spanish players, constantly making Spanish players swallow bitter defeats. In November 2024, the Davis Cup finals will be held in Malaga, Spain, and the homegrown Spanish team will meet the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. In the first singles match, the Spanish god Rafael Nadal, who had already decided to retire after participating in the Davis Cup, lost to Dutch captain Van der Shanchop in two sets. The Spanish team is in danger! Fortunately, in the second singles match, Alcaraz defeated Gricosp in two sets to pull one back for Spain. In the third doubles match, Spain's Alcaraz partnered Granolles against the Netherlands' Van der Shanchop and doubles star Kurhoff. As a result, the Spanish team lost in two sets and missed the semifinals of the 2024 Davis Cup.

Van der Shanchop not only gave the Spanish god of war Nadal the last defeat of his career, but also sent Nadal to end his brilliant career and retire, but Van der Shanchop almost single-handedly led the Dutch team to two victories over Spain, entered the semi-finals of the Davis Cup, and finally reached the final, winning the 2024 Davis Cup runner-up. How could such a Van der Shanchup not become Alcaraz's enemy and make Alcaraz have an inexplicable knot? In the second round of the 2024 US Open, Van der Shanchop defeated Alcaraz, defeated Nadal in the singles match in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup (this is Alcaraz's idol), and then defeated Alcaraz in the doubles match, knocking out the homegrown Spanish team from the Davis Cup finals.

Nine times out of ten, life is not as expected. Alcaraz, who lost the Davis Cup in November last year, met Serbian champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of this year's Australian Open. It was expected that Alcaraz would be able to learn the lessons of last year's defeat in the gold medal final at the Paris Olympics and give the veteran Djokovic a head-on blow and successful revenge. Unexpectedly, after Alcaraz won the first set, Djokovic, who was fighting with an injury, affected his mentality and it was difficult to give full play to his technical and tactical level. On the contrary, Djokovic became more and more courageous, and even won three sets in a row to knock Alcaraz out. Poor Alcaraz, who aims to win the Australian Open this year and surpass his idol Nadal to become the youngest Grand Slam player in history, has no choice but to break his dream in Melbourne and only fight again next year.

In this way, Alcaraz, who was depressed and full of knots, played in ATP 500 Rotterdam for the first time in his career, and met Dutch elder Van der Shanschupp in the first round. Sure enough, in response to the old saying "enemies see each other, they are red", and at the beginning of the game in the early hours of yesterday morning, the two fought fiercely and inseparably.

In the first set, Alcaraz, who was the first to be broken, came from behind to win the first set, first breaking Van der Shanchop's serve to win the set, and then winning the first set in the tie-break. Unwilling to be defeated, the Dutch veteran Van der Shanchop fought on home soil, and fought hard to pull back the first set with a score of 6:3. In the final deciding set, Alcaraz was in complete control of the situation on the court, breaking his opponent's two service games successively and easily winning with a score of 6:1. The game was difficult, but the result was sweet, Alcaraz achieved perfect revenge, and nearly half a year of depression was swept away, and the knot was untied.

Alcaraz in this revenge battle is average and has many problems. For example, the forehand was still struggling, scoring 23 winning points while also sending 29 unforced errors; The serve is also not ideal, with a first-serve scoring rate of only 56%, a first-serve scoring rate of only 68%, and a second-serve scoring rate of just over half of 52%; In the past, the sudden release of small balls that performed well was not high, and the success rate was not high; The volley in front of the net, which he is good at, has a scoring rate of only 72%. Still, it's the hard-earned victory that counts! Because such a victory not only untied Alcaraz's past knots, but also boosted Alcaraz's confidence in the race. I believe that the next season, Alcaraz, who has untied the knot, will be even more worth looking forward to.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Colorful Bean Powder)