Madrid: World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz beat lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday to defend his title and win his fourth trophy the year on the ATP circuit and its tenth. generally.
Alcaraz, who suffered an injury-plagued start to the season, returned to full form last month to win the Barcelona Open for the second year in a row.
The victory was the fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy for Alcaraz, who became the youngest world number one last September when he won the US Open and held that spot for 20 weeks until Novak Djokovic took it back in January.
He could take back the world number one spot from Djokovic if he shows up to play in Rome later this week, as he has no points to defend and the Serb would be defending his crown and 1000 points in Italy.
In Madrid, the 20-year-old Spaniard had to play his best tennis to beat a relentless Struff in three sets at a packed Caja Magica.
Struff’s run to the final is part of a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the German, who fell outside the top 100 last year but climbed back to 65th after reaching the quarter-finals of the Masters in Monte Carlo last month.
Alcaraz had a dream start to the match, breaking Struff’s serve in the first game.
The German fought back to return the favor, making things uncomfortable for Alcaraz with his aggressive tactics and relentlessly attacking the Spaniard’s serve.
Struff made every break serve return in the fourth game, but Alcaraz produced another break and closed the set 6-4.
Struff raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set, which he won 6-3, but Alcaraz came alive in the third, taking a 3-1 advantage and winning the set 6-3 .
“I suffered more than I enjoyed today, but the final is like that,” Alcaraz said.
“There are times when the nerves take over, the legs feel heavy and it’s difficult even if you want to play well.
“You have to be there all the time, Struff is very aggressive. I knew I was going to get bombs and I had to prepare for that.”
