Young star Carlos Alcaraz caused another surprise at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. After the 19-year-old Spaniard prevailed against compatriot and idol Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic from Serbia in a thrilling match 6:7 (5/7) 7:5 7:6 in the semifinals of the clay court tournament on Saturday (7/5).
Alcaraz converted his third match point after 3:36 hours. It was the first duel between the teenager and 20-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic. In the final on Sunday, the Spaniard meets either defending champion Alexander Zverev (GER/2) or Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/4).
Alcaraz is already heading for his fourth title this year after Rio de Janeiro, the Masters 1000 victory in Miami and Barcelona. The 1.85 m tall right-hander is the youngest player to defeat Nadal and Djokovic in the same tournament, and also the first ever to do so on clay.
“It gives me a lot of self-confidence for the final on Sunday,” said the Spaniard, who beat no fewer than 51 winners with his aggressive style of play. Djokovic paid tribute to the young star after the game. “For someone his age, he plays very mature and fearless, that’s impressive,” said the number one in the world.
Match develops into a thriller
Alcaraz got into the match well at the beginning and took the first service game from Djokovic and increased it to 2-0. The world number one then improved and won the first set after 62 minutes in the tie-break 7:6 (7/5).
However, the young star was not impressed by this and after a little more than two hours of play he equalized the set 7:5. The match developed more and more into a thriller. Both players missed break opportunities in the third set.
In the tenth game, the Spaniard even had match point, Djokovic then served an ace. Ultimately, the tie-break in the third set decided the exciting semifinals. Alcaraz had better nerves there and won 7:5.
ATP 1000 tournament in Madrid
(Spain, €6,575,560, clay court)
