No one has been able to beat Carlos Alcaraz in Miami and few have dominated him this year: only Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open and Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells have succeeded… Apart from these two defeats , the young Spaniard has 18 victories, including the latest, against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 8th in the world, 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Masters 1000 in Miami this Sunday.
Like its glorious Big Three elders fifteen years ago, Alcaraz is beginning its collection of records. At 18 years and 10 months, he is the youngest player to win the Masters 1000 and the Miami tournament since its creation in 1985. One year ahead of a certain Novak Djokovic, winner in 2007…
This Sunday, however, the young Spaniard missed his start and let Ruud lead 3-0. Perhaps it was the tension caused by his first Masters 1000 final or the emotion of finding his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who had returned the day before, by surprise, after having had to return to Spain to attend his father’s funeral. .
Led 4-1, Alcaraz however reversed the steam to take the lead 7-5, 3-0, double break in pocket… The mass was said and, despite a medical time-out requested by his opponent, the young champion from Murcia concluded on his first match point, on a white game, and by one of the serve-volley sequences that he loves to distill at random. After which, he sprawled full length on his back.
Winner of his first ATP 500, in Rio, Alcaraz, 16th at the start of the week, will emerge in 11th place in the world on Monday. While waiting for better very quickly… Doesn’t he indeed count seven victories for six defeats against the members of the world top 10.
Incidentally, the title of Alcaraz also puts an end to the Spanish curse which hovered over Miami, where eight finals out of eight had been lost by his compatriots, including five by Nadal alone. A new record in the Alcaraz collection…
