The defeat of the German champion, led the 19-year-old Alcaraz to his second Masters

All roads are open to the young – these words have become a kind of anthem and motto for many. So it’s time for the champions to step aside and let the younger generation into the world of sport.  The new champion of the Madrid Open is a young tennis player – Carlos Alcaraz.  This news swept the world and thrilled many fans. How did this unknown Spaniard manage to break through on the most prestigious tennis court, and even compete with the famous stars and snatch victory from their hands.

A student of a professional ground school, he began his difficult journey at the age of 14. For a long time his trainers would not allow him to play against professional tennis players on the clay, but at the age of 16 he has already progressed to defeating a top-200 ranked player. Now Carlos is 19 and feels perfectly at home in the championship spot, which is rightfully his.

After all, not every tennis player has managed to defeat two of the strongest title-holders at once at the Madrid Open. Alcaraz’s blows were sensational, helping him to beat Nadal in the ¼ final and crush world number one Djokovic in the ½ final. In the history of men’s tennis, Alvaro has produced a record 11 clay professionals who have beaten both Rafa and Novak in the same tournament, with the young Spaniard making the list as the 12th. He also managed to become the 4th player to beat them in 2 successive rounds and the first in the world to do so on the mainland.

After Miami, this is his second final at the Madrid Open, where he plays against German Alexander Zverev, the 2021 champion. The reigning champion had the good fortune to defeat his two opponents, Auger-Allassim and Tsitsipas.

Once again fate decided to bring together Alcaraz and Zverev at the same tournament, they had already crossed paths twice before, and luck was on the German’s side. After Zverev was careless enough in Acapulco to predict that the young Spaniard would make the top 10 in 2023, it was followed by Alcaraz winning the championship this year. Unfortunately Zverev could not have foreseen that.

The game was as tense as possible and already in the 4th game Carlos took the service and the score changed 4:2 and at the end of the game he managed to keep the lead – 6:3 in 33 minutes. It was not until the beginning of the second game that Alcaraz gave Zverev his first game and then served his way to a 6-3, 6-1 victory in 64 minutes.

That means the Spaniard beat the three French Open leaders, Djokovic (1), Zverev (2) and Nadal (3), to claim his second Masters title. He has a winning streak of 10 matches under his belt. He has beaten the top-10 professionals 11 times and eight times in the 2022 season. Alcaraz could receive his first World No. 6 ranking on Monday.