Carlos Alcaraz secured his second and biggest ATP title on Sunday evening. He made some history in doing so, too.
Alcaraz became the youngest ATP 500 champion ever (since the new points structure was introduced in 2009) when he defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 in the Rio Open final. A rain-delayed tournament saw the 18-year-old finally get across the finish line in a mercifully swift one hour and 27 minutes.
Both Alcaraz and Schwartzman played their quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday because of rain earlier in the week. The Spaniard spent three hours and 49 minutes on the court while beating Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, while the 14th-ranked Argentine needed five hours and 34 minutes to get past Pablo Andujar and Francisco Cerundolo.
Schwartzman raced to a 2-0 lead in the opening set on Sunday, but Alcaraz answered with a break in the third game and from there he never lost control. Although the world No. 29 gave back a break early in the second set, he quickly added two more service breaks as Schwartzman understandably faded down the stretch.
“I think this is my game: it’s a lot of variety,” Alcaraz explained. “It’s the key [to how] I won the match. I know how Diego plays and this was really important for me.
“I can’t believe it, honestly. It has been a great week for me playing (at) a great level. (It was my) first tournament on clay [in] a long time, so I’m really happy with the performance during the whole week. It’s an amazing feeling right now.”
Alcaraz was joined in the winners’ circle on Sunday by Andrey Rublev (Marseille) and Cameron Norrie (Delray Beach).
Rublev avenged a recent Rotterdam loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime by prevailing 7-5, 7-6(4). The seventh-ranked Russian also captured the Marseille doubles title with Denys Molchanov. Norrie took down Reilly Opelka 7-6(1), 7-6(4) in a match that predictably featured zero breaks of serve. Opelka saved all five of the break points he faced.
nice one, Carlos
Great! Now if he wins two masters before turning 19 I’ll look impressed! 🙂
Wins two masters before turning 19 (IE before May this year)? Very difficult to accomplish that! There are the top five players who could and would beat him at the Masters.
He maybe promising now and most likely will be a great player in future, but I doubt he could achieve something young Rafa had achieved as a teenager (young Rafa had won a slam and another 15 ATP titles as a teenager, tying with Borg with 16 titles won as a teenager. Rafa had won two Masters and reached another Masters final before turning 19 ).
There will never be another Rafa or Borg. They were teenage phenoms. What they did was remarkable. It has not happened since.
Alcaraz shows great promise. But I am always a bit skeptical about the new kid on the block. Tennis history is littered with guys who briefly shone bright and then slipped into obscurity.
He is not going to do what Rafa did.
There were quite a few Borg Clones but Alcaraz does have his own game stlye.He compares himself to Fed. Im a bit worried about the huge grunted forehand and sleeveless shirts, though.
I quite like Alcaraz and I think he’ll achieve great things! But Rafa just had a certain je ne sais crois that will be very hard to duplicate. Rafa was special from the get go!!! No one should ever try to emulate him…….they’ll fail, and miserably!!!!
But it was quite impressive how Alcaraz dispatched Diego though!
Here’s a new one for our collection: Seyboth Wild! He must be a Bond villain. I’m sure I’ve seen him with a white cat…….
With a name like that sounds like a big game hunter
There is only one Rafa Nadal.