Young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the final of the Madrid Tennis Championships, by defeating Serbian Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, by two sets to one.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
The young Spanish teenager, Carlos Alcaraz, ranked ninth in the world, exceeded his Serbian counterpart Novak Djokovic – the first of the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters session, a thousand points on clay courts, in a marathon match that lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes 6-7 (5-7) and 7-5 and 7-6 (7-5).
Alcaraz, who was among the top ten before he turned 19, on Thursday knocked out his Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal from the quarter-finals, becoming the youngest player ever to reach the last four in Madrid.
He will meet in the final the Greek Stefanos Tsippas fifth or the German Alexander Zverev, the third and defending champion.
Alcaraz became the first player ever to drop Nadal and Djokovic in two matches in a row on clay courts, and the first teenager to drop them in two matches in a row in any tournament or tournament, and the youngest player to beat a number one in the world in 17 years, since Nadal achieved that against Roger Federer in 2005 at Roland Garros.
This was the first confrontation between Alcaraz and Djokovic after he won his first victory over Nadal on Friday, in the third confrontation between them after two losses in the second round of Madrid last year, and the semi-finals of Indian Wells in March.
Alcaraz denied Djokovic a fourth title in Madrid, after 2011, 2016 and 2019, to consolidate his record in the Masters Tournaments (37), knowing that Nadal has 36.
Alcaraz will hope to win his second Masters title after Miami and the fourth this year after Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro as well, and the fifth in his career.