Alcaraz, 18, knocked out Hurkacz in Miami and is in the Masters final for the first time

Carlos Alcaraz at the age of 18, he is experiencing a great start to the season and confirms his huge potential. He won his second and most valuable title at the ATP 500 clay court in Rio de Janeiro, reached the semifinals of the Masters 1000 for the first time two weeks ago in Indian Wells, and has now advanced to his biggest finals at the next Masters in Miami.

The Spanish teenager in Florida eliminated Fucsovices, Čilič, Tsitsipas, Kecmanovič and stopped last year’s champion in the semifinals Hubert Hurkacze. The defeated world top ten, who the day before prevented Daniil Medvedev from returning to the top of the world rankings, defeated 7-6 7-6 in the first duel.

Both tennis players in the match turned away after three breakballs and never lost a serve. They decided on tie-breaks. In the first, Alcaraz turned the development from 3-5 to 7-5, the second was in control from the beginning and won 7-2.

“I couldn’t return his service, but I knew the match would be long. So I was ready for tie-breaks. It was a different match than the others, which is why it’s a great win for me,” said Alcaraz, who In five matches in Miami, he deflected 15 of the 17 breakballs.

Although Alcaraz played one less stroke than Hurkacz (22-23), he also made significantly fewer unforced errors (21-37). “My backhand doesn’t work at all,” shouted the frustrated Pole at the beginning of the second set towards his coach.

Alcaraz defeated two Top 10 players (Tsitsipase and Hurkacze) for the first time in one tournament and leveled the balance in the top ten with 6-6.

“He plays great for his age. It’s unbelievable how he plays, how competitive he is. It’s crazy, he has a great career ahead of him,” Hurkacz thinks.

This year, Alcaraz played 19 matches, played at least a hundred in all of them and defeated 17 opponents. He suffered two defeats only after battles with Top 10 players Matteo Berrettini and Rafael Nadal. Out of the last 24 duels, he has a balance of 22-2.

In the world rankings, Alcaraz has already secured a move to 12th place, in the event of a triumph, there will even be eleventh few points behind the tenth Cameron Norrie.

Alcaraz became the fifth youngest finalist in the Masters 1000 and the second youngest finalist in the Miami Open. His compatriot Rafael Nadal was only a month younger in 2005 and lost to Roger Federer for the title.

“I’m experiencing a lot of emotions now. Advancing to the finals of such a tournament is something you dream of as a child. The audience is amazing here and I really enjoy it here,” said the satisfied Alcaraz.

He reached the final in Miami as the fifth Spaniard in the 37-year history of the tournament and can become the first Spanish champion. Nadal lost five times in the final, after one failure by Sergi Bruguer, Carlos Moya and David Ferrer.

Youngest @MiamiOpen Finalists
1 @RafaelNadal18y10m, in 2005 (Runner-up)
2 @ AlcarazCarlos0318y11m, in 2022
3 @JannikSin19y8m, in 2021 (Runner-up)
4 @DjokerNole19y10m, in 2007 (Champion)
5 @AndreAgassi19y11m in 1990 (Champion)#MiamiOpen

– ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) April 2, 2022

Youngest #ATPMasters1000 Finalists
1 Michael Chang, 18y157d, at 1990 @NBOToronto (W)
2 @RafaelNadal18y304d, at 2005 @MiamiOpen (L)
3 Nadal, 18y318d, at 2005 @RolexMCMasters (W)
4 @RichardGasquet118y331d, at 2005 @HamburgOpen (L)
5 @ AlcarazCarlos0318y333d, at 2022 #MiamiOpen

– ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) April 2, 2022

Spaniards in @MiamiOpen Men’s Finals@RafaelNadal 0-5 (2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017)
Sergi Bruguera 0-1 (1997)@CharlyMoya 0-1 (2003)@DavidFerrer87 0-1 (2013)@ AlcarazCarlos03 TBD (2022)#MiamiOpen

– ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) April 2, 2022

Alcaraz will play the fourth and biggest final one month before his 19th birthday. He has not lost in it yet, he celebrated the titles last year in Umag, at the Champions’ Championship for players under 21 in Milan and this year in Rio.

He will play for the most valuable trophy and move to 3rd place in the table of the youngest Masters 1000 tournaments with a Norwegian who is five years older Casperem Ruudem (h2h 1-0), which he defeated in two sets last year on clay in Marbella.

“I will try to play as if it were the first round to hide my nerves. I think I will enjoy it and it will be a great final,” Alcaraz looks forward to it.

Ruud, 23, lost to Argentina in the first semifinals on Friday Francisca Cerundola and also advanced to the finals of the Masters 1000 for the first time.