Three hours. Three hours, 19 minutes. Three hours, 12 minutes. Three hours, 41 minutes…. Those were some of the match durations during the first two weeks of the Golden Swing in Cordoba and Buenos Aires.
But those tournaments appear to have nothing on the Rio Open. Just one day into main-draw action, it has packed a whole week’s worth of drama into a span of about 12 hours.
Cordoba champion Cristian Garin battled past Andrej Martin 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in three hours and nine minutes on Monday afternoon. Federico Coria upset Corentin Moutet 1-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(3) in two hours and 57 minutes. The night session on center court began with an absolutely wild affair between Thiago Seyboth Wild and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, won by Wild 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 after three hours and 49 minutes. That was followed by an all-Spanish showdown between 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz and 32-year-old Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Alcaraz prevailed 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(2) in three hours and 36 minutes at exactly 3:00 in the morning.
In the penultimate contest of the night, Seyboth Wild–a 19-year-old Brazilian–saved three match points in succession from 0-40 down at 5-6 in the second set.
Another roller-coaster ride in the nightcap saw Alcaraz, who is coached by former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, lead by a set and a break. However, Ramos-Vinolas broke back for 4-4 and broke again in the 10th game to force a decider. The veteran promptly raced ahead 3-0 in the third only to see Alcaraz storm back and play his way into a tiebreaker. With momentum back in hand, the youngest player in the top 500 (No. 406) dominated the ‘breaker for his first tour-level victory.
“I will remember Rio forever,” Alcaraz assured. “I am very happy to win my first ATP Tour match. This has been the longest and most intense match I’ve played so far. There were quite difficult conditions, but if you have the right attitude, the conditions don’t matter. You can achieve anything.
“I always have positive thoughts. I always think I can win, no matter who the opponent is. If you don’t think you can win, you shouldn’t go on the court.”
On the Golden Swing, if you aren’t prepared to play three-plus hours…you shouldn’t go on the court.
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ridiculous