No escape from Alcaraz for Novak
Spanish tennis teen beats another legend in Madrid
Rafael Nadal one day. Novak Djokovic the next.
The list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing — and so does the hype over tennis’ newest sensation.
After defeating his idol Nadal in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the 19-year-old Alcaraz rallied to beat top-ranked Djokovic 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) yesterday to reach the Madrid Open final.
“It was one of those matches to enjoy,” Alcaraz said. “Despite the tension, despite being the semifinals, being 7-6 in the thirdset 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 his third match point in front of a raucous home crowd on the Caja Magica 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, to be able to beat the No 1.” Alcaraz, the youngest player in the top 10 since Nadal in 2005, has won this year in Miami, Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, the most of any player.
To win a fourth title he will need to beat 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 points to clinch the victory in nearly two hours in match that ended after 1am. 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 Magica 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 lost both matches he played against Zverev, all last year on hard courts.
“I know 99.999 per cent of the people will be against me but this is completely fine,” Zverev said with a smile. “I’m still thankful that you guys are here at 1.10am. It’s going to be a fun match.”
Djokovic remains without a title this season as he continues to try to regain his best form going into his title defence at the French Open this month.
“Congrats to him. He held his nerves very well,” Djokovic said. “For somebody of his age to play so maturely and courageously is impressive. He deserved to win.”
In the women’s final, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won her biggest title by defeating American Jessica Pegula in three sets.
Jabeur, the first Arab woman in the top 10, won 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 for her second career title.
“When I had the match point, I had to win it from the beginning, otherwise it’s going to be very tough for me,” Jabeur said. “But I’m very happy and trying to realise that I won.”
Pegula, a one-time tour winner, will reach a career-high No 11 ranking.