Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday by reaching the Madrid Open final, likening himself to “a bull” in his straight sets win over Borna Coric.
The world No. 2 was at his best to defeat the Croatian 6-4, 6-3.
He faces Germany’s world No. 65 Jan-Lennard Struff, who had originally been knocked out in qualifying before winning a reprieve, in today’s final.
Photo: AFP
Alcaraz said he called upon some of the inner motivation that helped him triumph at the US Open in New York last year when he captured his maiden Grand Slam crown.
“There was a moment when I repeated what I repeated at the US Open, that I’m a bull, and that I could do it, and it helped me,” he said.
Alcaraz, reaching his fourth Masters 1000 final, broke for a 3-2 lead in a tight first set and served it out.
Photo: AP
He broke for 2-1 in the second set and after world No. 20 Coric immediately hit back, did so again for a 3-2 lead, which he consolidated.
Alcaraz sealed the match with another break when Coric went long, ensuring he reached the final only dropping one set en route, against Emil Ruusuvuori.
The top seed celebrated with a birthday cake, offered to him by the tournament organizers after his victory.
The only dampener for Alcaraz was news that Spanish compatriot and 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal would miss next week’s Italian Open through injury.
Nadal has not played since the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury and is now a serious doubt for the French Open in three weeks’ time and where the 36-year-old has been champion on 14 occasions.
“I hope to see him at Roland Garros 100 percent. The world wants to see him at 100 percent,” Alcaraz said.
Struff, 33, made only his second career final by defeating Russia’s Aslan Karatsev who had beaten him in qualifying last weekend.
However, having been allocated a place in the main draw after injury pull-outs, Struff avenged that loss in Friday’s semi-final.
He came from a set down to see off 121st-ranked Karatsev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and become the first lucky loser to go all the way to a Masters final.
“It’s amazing,” Struff said. “I played one final before in Munich, but there was no crowd because of COVID”-19 restrictions.
The women’s singles final between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka was to be played after press time last night.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS