ATP Masters Madrid: Birthday boy Alcaraz treats himself to the final
Carlos Alcaraz (ATP No. 2) played his way into the final of the Masters tournament in Madrid with a two-set win over Borna Coric.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 05, 2023, 06:09 pm
In the end it looked like an award ceremony, but it was "only" the birthday celebrations for the now 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. He had just reached the final in Madrid after beating Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaraz rewarded himself with a bite into the three-tier birthday cake that was chauffeured onto the pitch.
And he deserved it. The Spaniard didn't burn much against Coric. At 2: 2 in the first set he had to fend off a breakball, did so, then made the break himself and got the opening round.
In the second set, Alcaraz seemed to have everything under control after the break to make it 2-1, but then he made a few forehand mistakes to compensate for Coric. Alcaraz broke again straight away - and this time took the lead with him.
Cake today, final on Sunday
Alcaraz managed 30 winners with only 10 unforced errors - although Coric was also doing well with 22 wins and 8 unforced errors. However, Alcaraz was the much more powerful player of the two.
After converting his match point, he yelled his energetic "Vamos" several times towards his box and into the crowd before the cake came on the court.
He's even allowed to celebrate a bit, because the finale won't take place until Sunday.
Alcaraz now against Struff or Karatsev
The opponent there: the winner of the game between Jan-Lennard Struff and Aslan Karatsev. The two play each other tonight from 8 p.m. - here in our live ticker .
Alcaraz is the defending champion in Madrid and has won three Masters tournaments in his career so far. In Madrid he is in his sixth final this year - in six tournaments.
Alcaraz had missed the beginning of the season, as well as the clay court start in Monte Carlo.
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