Madrid, May 6 (IANS) Local favorite Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday by booking his place in the final of the ATP Madrid Open.
The top seed in Madrid defeated 17th seed Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes, reports Xinhua.
Alcaraz dominated on his serve, with Coric only able to break him once, while the Spaniard was able to break the Croatian’s serve four times during the match in front of a partisan crowd in Madrid.
It’s the third time Alcaraz has celebrated his birthday while playing in Madrid.
“It’s incredible to celebrate my birthday in front of everyone. And to enjoy my 20th birthday this way. I had my 18th birthday playing Rafa (Nadal), my 19th beating (Cameron) Norrie and now I’m celebrating mt 20th birthday by getting to the final. Every year is very special,” he said after his match.
Alcaraz will play German Jan Lennard Stuff, who arrived in Madrid ranked 65th in the world in Sunday’s final.
Stuff defeated Russian Aslan Karatsev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinal in which the German’s big serve was the main factor.
Although Stuff struggled to adapt to Karatsev’s big hitting and pace in the first set, he upped his own aggression to fight back and hit 15 aces in the match.
–IANS
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