Frustration or liberation

Alcaraz was tense all week in Monte Carlo; coming back home to Barcelona for this tournament he loves should do him good.

It wasn’t a huge week from Alcaraz overall, but it’s not all bad either. It’s the first clay tournament of the year, he’s going to build momentum. Barcelona is also a special tournament: he’s already won it twice, and last year he lost in the final. I think he’s going to be particularly invested this week to get his title back. The fact that he lost to Sinner should also make him eager to bounce back; we know he uses that as motivation. The conditions are similar and that suits him, the slowness of the courts works in his favor, especially against a profile like Virtanen’s.

The Finn has just beaten Vukic and Muller in qualifying, a bit of an upset against Muller! He’s kind of the opposite of Alcaraz: he’s not supposed to like slow conditions, but I think it gives him time to set his feet and hit big. Yes, but only up to a point: Alcaraz defends better than anyone and he’s not going to let him attack freely either, it’s not a good match-up for Virtanen. The question is how close to perfect Alcaraz will be; his adjustment time is short and he sometimes tends to try to overplay...