Carlos Alcaraz never stops pushing the limits. At just 19 years old – he celebrated them on Thursday – the young Spaniard qualified for the final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Saturday May 7, taking the best of the noh 1 in the world, Novak Djokovic, after a marathon match (6-7 [5/7]7-5, 7-6 [7/5]).
A day after beating Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, Alcaraz advanced to the second Masters 1000 final – the highest tournaments on the circuit except for the four Grand Slams – of his career. Phenomenon of precocity, like his compatriot Nadal, the young man became on Saturday the first player to succeed in beating Nadal then Djokovic in the same tournament on clay. Never, since the two members of the “top 3” (with Roger Federer) began their careers, had an opponent managed to bring the two down on ocher.
Opposed Sunday to Alexander Zverev (noh 3 in the world) or Stefanos Tsitsipas (noh 5), Carlos Alcaraz asserts himself, two weeks before the start of Roland-Garros, as one of the favorites of the Parisian tournament. The one who is often compared to his glorious compatriot (and record holder since January for the number of Grand Slam tournament titles) is already no longer a hope: at 19, he will be noh 6 World Monday.
