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Carlos Alcaraz in the match against Alexander Zverev
Photo:
JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
He beat Rafael Nadal, world number one Novak Đoković - and Alexander Zverev was no hurdle either: 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz clearly won the final at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid against defending champion Zverev 6: 3, 6: 1 .
Alcaraz showed a strong performance in 62 minutes on the clay court in the Caja Magica and in this form is one of the top favorites at the French Open in Paris, which starts in two weeks.
Zverev, on the other hand, is still waiting for his first title win this year.
Zverev was far too slow against the 19-year-old's explosive game, he couldn't find a way to counter the drop shots, the 160 km/h forehand and was sometimes demoted to an extra.
His third title in Madrid after 2018 and 2021 was never realistic.
"He can do anything"
Zverev had triumphed in Madrid in 2018 and 2021 and, after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2 in the semifinals, was hoping for the first tournament victory of the year.
But Alcaraz, who had defeated Nadal and Djokovic in three sets each, proved to be the clearly stronger player and won his second Masters title of the season after Miami.
Alcaraz was the first player ever to throw Nadal and Djokovic out of a tournament on red ashes.
"He can achieve anything," Nadal said, and Alcaraz agrees: "I don't see any limits for myself.
I already feel for the top players in every tournament, in every match, on every surface.«
This year, the young Spaniard has already eight wins against top ten players in his record, Alcaraz is unbeaten on clay for ten matches with his tournament wins in Barcelona and now in Madrid.
Alcaraz will move up from ninth to sixth in the world rankings on Monday.
ngo/dpa/sid
