Carlos Alcaraz downed Rafael Nadal to reach his second Masters 1000 semifinal.
Carlos Alcaraz beat five-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal on Friday in the quarterfinals to set up a blockbuster semifinal showdown with top seed Novak Djokovic.
The 19-year-old has been in the form of his life on tour this year. He has picked up two ATP 500 titles – Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona and a maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami. His success at Barcelona a week ago made him the youngest top-10 debutant since Nadal (2005) himself almost two decades ago.
Continuing his fine form in the Spanish capital, Alcaraz opened his campaign against Nikoloz Basilashvili, whom be beat in straight sets. He faced a sterner challenge in the next round against Brit Cameron Norrie, who took a set off the teenager in a near three-hour battle to set up a quarterfinal clash against Nadal.
In his third meeting against his illustrious compatriot, Alcaraz won the opening set 6-2 with relative ease. However, after Alcaraz twisted his ankle in the second set and Nadal raised his level, the older Spaniard won the second set 6-1 to storm back into the contest.
To his credit, though, Alcaraz regained his mojo to close out one of the biggest wins of his career.
While the win assures him a ranking of World No. 6 next week, he has also achieved a few significant milestones in the match. Here’s a look at three of them:
#1 Carlos Alcaraz becomes the youngest semifinalist in Madrid Masters history
Carlos Alcaraz at the Mutua Madrid Open – Day Nine
Carlos Alcaraz added another achievement of the year to his list of many firsts. With his victory over Nadal on Friday, he became the youngest Madrid Masters semifinalist in the tournament’s history.
A day after he turned 19, Alcaraz rocked Nadal with his mixture of raw aggression and well-disguised drop sets, leaving Nadal grasping at thin air on most occasions. After a tough test against Norrie on Thursday, Alcaraz knew a bigger test awaited him against the ‘King of Clay’. However, he was ready for the challenge.
Employing an ultra-aggressive gameplan, Alcaraz managed to rattle his illustrious compatriot, who was returning from a six-week injury layoff. Interestingly, Alcaraz’s last duel with Nadal at Indian Wells was another thriller – which the 35-year-old won to extend his winning start to the year to 20-0. However, Nadal lost to Taylor Fritz in the final.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz overcame a mid-match slump to continue his assault on Nadal. On his first match point, a blistering rally ensued.
Alcaraz went to the net to kill the point, but Nadal somehow kept the ball in play. The 35-year-old then sensed an opportunity to go for the kill but failed to place a forehand beyond Alcaraz, who hit a sublime winner on the run down the line to seal his first win against his idol.
#2 Carlos Alcaraz ends Rafael Nadal’s 25-match winning streak against Spaniards
Carlos Alcaraz beat Nadal on Fridat at the Mutua Madrid Open – Day Nine
Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Nadal on Friday ended the latter’s 25-match winning streak against his compatriots.
The last time the 21-time Grand Slam champion finished second-best to a player from Spain was in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open. Nadal lost 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(4), 2-6 to suffer only his second defeat in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. The only other time he lost in the first round was at Wimbledon 2013 to Steve Darcis.
Alcaraz will now look to build on his win over Nadal and beat Djokovic, while Nadal heads over to Rome to defend his title next week. With another career-high ranking assured, Alcaraz is likely to come out all guns blazing against Djokovic, who is a three-time winner at the Caja Magica.
The young Spaniard joked after the match that he would have a chat with David Nalbandian, who beat Djokovic and Nadal in the same event more than a decade ago.
#3 Carlos Alcaraz becomes first teenager to beat Rafael Nadal on clay
Carlos Alcaraz at the Mutua Madrid Open – Day Nine
Touted by many to be the heir apparent to Nadal and a future World No. 1, the 19-year-old peaked when it mattered most to beat his illustrious compatriot on the red dirt. In the process, Alcaraz became the first teenager to beat the ‘King of Clay’ on his favourite surface.
It was his first victory over Nadal in three meetings. In their first meeting a year ago at the Madrid Masters, Alcaraz suffered a straight-sets defeat in the third round.
A few weeks ago in the Indian Wells semifinals, Alcaraz offered stiffer resistance with the match going the distance, but Nadal escaped in a three-hour, three-set slugfest, albeit at great personal cost. He fractured his rib that would keep him out of action for six weeks before the Spaniard returned to the Madrid Masters.
