Alcaraz comes from behind to beat Goffin in super tie break to give Spain its first Hopman Cup victory

Friday, 21 July 2023 at 20:17

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The Spanish team had to win the match between Carlos Alcaraz and David Goffin to avoid going into the duel with Croatia with zero points in their Hopman Cup 2023 group.

Rebeka Masarova's three-set defeat against Elise Mertens (7-6(3), 2-6, 10-5) only gave the world number 1 the option to take the victory in her debut in the competition.

Finally, Alcaraz managed to win the match after coming back from a set down, 6-4, 4-6 and 8-10, and forces the tiebreaker between Spain and Belgium, which will be decided in the mixed doubles.

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In the first set, Alcaraz's accumulated fatigue from the great Wimbledon he had won last week began to show almost at the beginning. At 1-1 he gave up his serve, and although he then broke Goffin to tie 2-2, soon after he would lose his serve again. The Belgian was ahead 4-3 and confirmed the break to take a 5-3 lead. The Spaniard won his game, but although he then saved two set points, he could not prevent his opponent from taking the first set 6-4.

The second set would start off uphill for Carlos Alcaraz, as David Goffin would take advantage of the momentum to get a break first. At 1-0, the player from Belgium would not have to suffer much to confirm the break and take a 2-0 lead. Goffin only had to maintain this advantage during the rest of the set to take the victory, but it would only last until 3-2, as Alcaraz, in his best moment of the match, managed to tie 3-3 after a hard-fought break.

Two consecutive breaks followed, one for each side, and the situation was again tied at 4-4. Here Alcaraz, who had not lost his smile throughout the match, is where he was more forceful with his game, and after taking a 4-5 lead, he got a break to take the second set 4-6 and tie the match, taking it to the super tie break at 10 points to decide the victory.

Things did not start well for Alcaraz, as Goffin took the first four points to go up 4-0. In an umpteenth demonstration of his great mentality, the Spaniard tied it 4-4. From there on, they would share mini-breaks until 8-9, where on his first match point Alcaraz managed to take the victory. The tiebreaker between Belgium and Spain will be decided in the mixed doubles.

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Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

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