ATP Masters Madrid: Carlos Alcaraz rolls over Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev lost the final of the Masters event in Madrid against an incredibly strong Carlos Alcaraz 3: 6 and 1: 6. The young Spaniard actually managed to beat Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev one after the other.
by Dennis Heineman
last edit: May 08, 2022, 07:49 pm
Sky commentator Marcel Meinert put it in a nutshell. He said that the word "child prodigy" should be treated with caution, but that Alcaraz is coming very close. And it cannot be denied that the tennis world is watching with open mouth when the 19-year-old Spaniard is on the court.
Sure, Alcaraz is swimming on a wave of euphoria anyway. Of course, she can also carry him through such a final. What is impressive, however, is how well his mind is already involved at such a young age and how little fear he has of big victories. Against Zverev, he was clearly the better, the more active player from the middle of the first set and just didn't let up. With 6:3 he won the first round.
Strong combination of power and stop
What has been noticeable throughout the week: Alcaraz's opponents rightly respect the power with which the Spaniard can push his opponents backwards. It's hard to stay on the baseline. That's one thing, but when you add the stops, it gets really difficult. Like Nadal and Djokovic, Zverev had trouble reacting to stops - that was the case against Rune in Munich, by the way.
It is known that Zverev can fight. But for that he also needs one or the other starting point. Of course, the early break that he had to accept at the beginning of the second set didn't suit him. He didn't look quite as lively after his semi-final win against Tsitsipas. As a result, the only question left was whether Alcaraz would really see it through to the end. With his title in Miami, viewers could already guess the answers to this question. After just one hour of play, a double fault by Zverev made the surprisingly clear 6: 3 and 6: 1.