Rio Open: Carlos Alcaraz beat Nicolas Jarry to set Cameron Norrie showdown in final

At the Rio Open semifinals on Saturday, qualifier Nicolas Jarry was giving the Spaniard all he could handle. In the second set, the Chilean came within two games of winning twice, at 4-4 and 5-5, with Alcaraz requiring treatment for an injury to his upper left thigh after each time he held.

Yet precisely when he appeared to be most at risk--having not faced a break point since preventing Jarry from serving out the opening set at 5-3--the 19-year-old went on a devastating eight-game run to win 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-0.

Both men had winning streaks going into the contest, which was shown in their performances against Court Guga Kuerten. Alcaraz stopped Jarry's five-match winning streak in Rio by moving to 8-0 on the season. Jarry had won three matches in the main draw and two matches in qualifying without dropping a set.

Early in the match, Jarry dominated Alcaraz, quickly jumping out to a 3-0 lead and making it three sets in a row where the Spaniard gave up the first break. While Alcaraz defeated Dusan Lajovic by overturning those deficits in the quarters, Jarry prevailed this time despite a late stumble while attempting to serve out the set.

Following the Alcaraz script, Jarry continued to mix power with well-timed drop shots in set two, but he was unable to convert from 0/40 in the opening game as Alcaraz negated four break points. Both the next breakpoint and set point belonged to any player, and Alcaraz seized both with grace.

The Spaniard effectively delivered the decisive punch by vanishing from the TV broadcast deep in his forehand corner and nailing a difficult passing shot on break point for a score of 2-0. After that, it was all academic as Alcaraz easily won in two hours and 42 minutes.

Norrie advanced to the final with a three-set win of his own, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) against Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

"I'm so proud of myself. To be in a final again in my second tournament is a really special moment for me... I couldn't ask for a better start of 2023," ATP.com quoted Alcaraz saying after winning his eighth match in 11 days.

"It was a really tough first set, coming back from a breakdown. And then playing a tie-break that I didn't really play well, it's tough to come back. Then I came back from 0/40 in the first game [of the second set]. It was really tough. But [I kept] a positive attitude to stay there and [took] my chances... It's all I can say. But honestly, I don't know how I did it," Alcaraz said. (ANI)