Alcaraz downs Nadal, Djokovic
Rafael Nadal one day. Novak Djokovic the other.
The list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing.
And so does the hype over tennis’ newest sensation.
After beating his idol Nadal in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the 19-yearold Alcaraz rallied to beat top-ranked Djokovic 6-7 (5) 7-5 7-6 (5) after more than 31⁄ hours yesterday to reach the
2
Madrid Open final.
‘‘It was one of those matches to enjoy,’’ Alcaraz said. ‘‘Despite the tension, despite being the semifinals of a Masters 1000, being 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker ... I’ve enjoyed it. Until the last point I was able to smile.’’
Alcaraz became the first player to beat Nadal and Djokovic at the same clay-court event. He converted on his third match point to clinch the victory – his 27th of the year – in front of a raucous home crowd on the Caja Ma´gica centre court.
‘‘It’s a spectacular feeling right now,’’ Alcaraz said.
‘‘I’m very excited to be able to play these kind of matches, to be able to beat Rafa yesterday, to be able to beat the No 1 today.’’
A win today will give Alcaraz his fourth title this season, the most of any player.
He will face defending champion Alexander Zverev, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-2. The second-seeded German player converted three of his five break opportunities to clinch the victory in nearly two hours in match that ended after 1am (local time).
Zverev is now 19-2 in Madrid, where he also won the title in 2018.
‘‘This is my favourite court in the world,’’ Zverev said. ‘‘This is the Caja Ma´gica and it is doing magic for me because I came into this tournament playing really bad. I was not very confident. I didn’t win a lot of matches this year but this court brings something out of me.’’
Alcaraz has lost both matches he played against Zverev, all last year on hard courts.