Alcaraz, who can reach Djokovic, and Cameron Norrie will repeat the Buenos Aires final at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro

Seven days later, there will be revenge. The Spanish Carlos Alcaraznumber two in the world, and the British Cameron Norie will re-propose the final of the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires this Sunday but with the ATP 500 title up for grabs in Rio de Janeiro, after beating the Chilean in the semifinals Nicholas Jarry and the Iberian Bernabe Zapata.

The final of the only ATP 500 tournament in South America will bring together the same two tennis players who played in the final of the Argentina Open the previous Sunday: Alcaraz, who was champion in Brazil in 2022 and who won in Buenos Aires, and Norrie, number 13 in the ATP rankings and second favorite in Rio.

The 19-year-old tennis player from Murcia, the first favorite in Brazil and reigning US Open champion, had to come back against Jarry (111 ATP) in a very tough duel lasting two hours and 42 minutes in which he suffered in the first set and needed a massage in the second, which put him back in the running for the title and the goal of equaling Novak Djokovic in the points of the standings, even if the Serbian will keep the ‘1’ according to the tie-break regulation criteria.

The Spaniard, who got back on track last week after a four-month break due to injury and has already accumulated a title and a final, had never met the Chilean before and felt the aggressive tennis of the 1.98-foot South American first-hand, who was also 2018 Rio Open semifinalist and 2019 tag team champion alongside Argentinian Máximo González.

Jarry played in his first semifinal of an ATP tournament in Rio since 2019 as it took him several months to return to the main tour after an eleven-month doping suspension imposed on him in January 2020.

In Rio he had to play the qualifiers to reach the main draw, but he did a good performance by eliminating the Argentine Sebastián Báez (35 ATP), sixth favorite, and the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, number 21 in the ATP and third key group leader.

Alcaraz’s rival in the final will be Norrie, who this Saturday beat Bernabé Zapata (63 ATP) in the semifinals 6-2, 3-6 and 7-6 (3), but who also finished visibly exhausted after 2 hours and 29 minutes of a match that was to be decided in the final round tiebreak.

The 27-year-old Briton and holder of four ATP titles today confirmed himself as the tennis player with the most victories in the current season, with 17 successes. Sunday’s final will be the fourteenth of his career, the third this year.

The ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, which takes place until Sunday on the clay courts of the Jockey Club Brasileiro and offers prizes worth 2.2 million dollars, is part of the clay tour of South America, which began with the Cordoba Open and the Argentina Open, and will conclude next week with the ATP 250 in Santiago (Chile).