Carlos Alcaraz Beats Novak Djokovic, reaches Madrid Final
Carlos Alcaraz defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) at Manolo Santana Stadium in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinal on May 7.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates victory after the men's singles semifinal against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Madrid Open in MadridThe 19-year-old Spaniard clinched his second consecutive victory against ATP tour legends after defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals on May 6. Carlos Alcaraz bounced back from a first set defeat to complete the biggest win of his career in a match that lasted for three hours and 35 minutes.
After the match, Carlos Alcaraz commented, “I don’t know what the difference was; it was so close. He had the chance to break my serve at the end of the second set. In the first set as well it was so close in the tiebreak. Honestly, I don’t know what made the difference.”
After winning his maiden Master 1000 title and reaching the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time earlier this year, Carlos Alcaraz added to his list of achievements for the 2022 season by defeating the Serbian great Novak Djokovic and tennis legend Rafael Nadal back to back to win his sixth consecutive match over Top 10 opponents. The rising star proved his capability to consistently match the top talent on tour.
The win made Carlos Alcaraz the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same clay-court event. He expressed that beating both the Tennis greats gave him confidence in his ability to play and win against the best players in the world. He currently has a 26-3 match record for the 2022 season.
Carlos Alcaraz caused constant problems for the 34-year-old Serb with his continuous use of drop shots. Both the players consistently dig themselves out of trouble, with Novak Djokovic saving eight of ten tiebreaks and Alcaraz saving five of six. The drop shots of Carlos Alcaraz got more and more effective as he drew his opponent closer while he angled perfectly placed shots past Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic was a worthy opponent and won 21 successive points leading the first set into a tiebreak in the eighth game after lagging at 40-15. Alcaraz looked firm in the deciding set and proved dangerous for the Serb, turning a 5-5 tie break into a 7-6 victory.
Carlos Alcaraz will face Alexander Zverev in the final match of the Mutua Madrid Open.