Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler says Carlos Alcaraz is the world No 1 on the ATP Tour “for a reason.” Butler, one of the biggest names in the NBA, was in the house for Alcaraz’s Miami Masters third-round win over Dusan Lajovic 6-0 7-6 (5).
“He’s always poised. He’s never rattled and more than anything, it looks like he’s having so much fun out there. I think whenever you have fun and you have that mentality that you know you’re the best, you go out there and you play as though you’re the best, results happen and he’s not No.
1 for no reason,” Butler told the ATP website.
Alcaraz felt ‘nervous’ after seeing Butler in the stands
Alcaraz, who is an NBA fan, grew up watching Butler. Now, Butler is coming to Alcaraz’s match to watch the Spaniard play tennis.
“Well, I feel great, you know, to see, like, celebrities watching my matches. It’s unbelievable. I feel a little bit nervous when I see a person like Jimmy [Butler], celebrities, when I was playing, like, in the Us Open. For me, it’s unbelievable, you know.
In certain ways, I can’t believe that these people enjoy watching my matches for me. It’s crazy,” Alcaraz said. Meanwhile, Alcaraz made sure to finish on the winning side when he saw Butler in the stands. Against Lajovic, Alcaraz got off to the best possible start as he didn’t drop a single game en route to winning the first set.
After easily winning the first set, Alcaraz also claimed the first break of the second set in the third game. In the seventh game, Alcaraz had another break point but he missed out on a chance to go up by a double break. Then, Lajovic stunningly broke back Alcaraz in the 10th game, when the Spaniard was serving for the match.
In the second-set tie-break, Alcaraz opened a 6-2 and clinch four consecutive match points before converting his fourth match point.
