Carlos Alcaraz had a 20th birthday to remember as he beat Borna Coric 6-4 6-3 in an entertaining Madrid Open semi-final to move one match away from a successful title defence. The Spaniard edged a hard-fought opening set before pulling away in the second and he has dropped just one set on his way to the final. Alcaraz will face Jan-Lennard Struff or Aslan Karatsev for the trophy.
The reigning Madrid champion will face Jan-Lennard Struff or Aslan Karatsev in the final as he searches for his fourth title of the season following victories in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells and Barcelona.
Alcaraz will go into that match as a huge favourite after dropping just one set on his way to the decider – his opening set of the tournament against Emil Ruusuvori – as he builds towards a tilt at the Roland Garros crown.
The hats were out in force in the stands as the baking heat of the afternoon sun bared down on the fans, but there was no sign of any hot weather doziness from the players as the match got off to a ferocious start.
Alcaraz applied immediate pressure in the opening game by setting up two break points, but both were saved by Coric.
Hard running and even harder hitting were the order of the day as both players produced a stunning array of shots in their pursuit of a breakthrough, with Coric next to have a break point saved when Alcaraz recovered to hold at 2-2.
There were more than 32 minutes on the clock by the time the first four games were over, but the gruelling battle eventually saw a breakthrough come in game five.
The 20-year-old’s record on home soil is another daunting prospect for his rivals; he has now won 20 consecutive ATP Tour matches in Spain.
Alcaraz earned two break points after another long, hard-hitting rally went his way, and he took the first with a laser-guided forehand winner into the corner.
It proved to be the defining moment of the set as neither player managed to set up a break point from then on in and Alcaraz eventually finished the job with a love hold to close the opener in one hour and one minute.
Set two followed a different pattern as it opened with back-to-back breaks, in the third and fourth games, Coric responding to Alcaraz to keep the contest alive.
But the Croatian couldn’t consolidate his break as Alcaraz struck again to take a 3-2 lead and stayed solid on serve before finding a third break on match point.
Alcaraz finished up with four aces to Coric’s two and 30 winners to 22.
