In 30 matches this season, only three players have managed to defeat Carlos Alcaraz. In the last 27 matches, only two have done so.
Rafael Nadal, who beat Alcaraz in Indian Wells, couldn’t do it in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open. Novak Djokovic tried and failed in the semis. Now it is Alexander Zverev who hopes to deny Alcaraz a second Masters 1000 title.
Zverev may not be an all-time great like Nadal and Djokovic, but at this particular tournament he is as dangerous as anyone. The 25-year-old German is a two-time champion in Madrid, having lifted the trophy in 2018 and again last spring. Zverev is up to his usual tricks in the Spanish capital this week, with wins over Marin Cilic, Lorenzo Musetti, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is now 19-2 lifetime in Madrid.
Also in Zverev’s favor is a 2-0 record in the head-to-head series. The world No. 3 dominated each of their first two encounters; 6-3, 6-1 early last season in Acapulco and 6-3, 6-3 on the hard courts of Vienna during the fall swing.
Of course, you can throw both of those results out the window given that Alcaraz is an entirely different player now. Vienna may have been barely more than six months ago and it still isn’t relevant at all. Alcaraz was good in 2021; now he is arguably the best player on tour. The 19-year-old is 24-3 in 2022 with titles in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, and Barcelona plus a semifinal showing in Indian Wells. After beating Nikoloz Basilashvili and Cameron Norrie in Madrid, Alcaraz became the first player ever to defeat Nadal and Djokovic in back-to-back matches on clay.
“It’s spectacular right now,” the Spaniard said following his 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) semifinal victory over Djokovic. “I am very happy. I’m very excited to be able to play these kind of matches, to be able to beat Rafa yesterday, to be able to beat the No. 1 today. So I’m super happy. It gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow’s final.”
The only red flag for Alcaraz heading into the final is the mental and physical toll of those battles with Nadal and Djokovic–the latter of which lasted three hours and 35 minutes. However, Madrid’s No. 7 seed looks like a generational talent in both the mental and physical departments. He will also have a raucous crowd behind him and should be able to run on adrenaline for one more match. Moreover, Zverev went three sets with Tsitsipas in the semis and did not get off the court until after 1:00 am.
For Alcaraz, there’s no stopping now.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
WWW?
Zverev in 3.
Alcaraz in 3
It’s close but I think Zverev in 3 is a real possibility.
C-mon Al!
Latest Headlines
“New kid Alcaraz proves Nadal and Djokovic were 2nd tier all along”.
Alcaraz makes tennis GOATs look B-Grade”.
I love Al but Petch made the point he’s lucky in so far as he’s not burst onto the scene at the height of Raf/Djok/Fed’s powers. In contrast to Dimi/Raonic and co.
He’s got more of a chance to make his mark.
Martina on Amazon Prime was in raptures about him BTW
ROFL!
Talk to me again when TMC (The Mighty Carlos) is 10 slams to the good. The kid beat Djoker who is not yet in top form in 3 close tb’s. Rafa’s game is way short of peak level, and admittedly I’m not sure he’s gonna get there again…and neither is he but he will give RG a go.
Rome isn’t Madrid, nor is RG.
Nobody said anything about 10 slams! Petch was just making a point about an opportune moment and Martina is as entitled to her opinion as anyone else. More so, I’d a thought.
This is obviously BS!!! Alcaraz is good and poised to get better but how on earth does that statement make sense when he is yet to reach a GS final and at his age Rafa already had more impressive results?!! And further, he needs to beat Rafa and Novak at their best and not subpar like they were, and plz let him at least win a GS first at his age before we can even include him in that type of conversation!!!! The media always raises a player up and then crash them down in the same breathe!! How many times have I heard this? Beating Novak and Rafa at some poxy clay tourney especially one where Rafa rarely excels is no barometer for excellence as far as I’m concerned!!! Let Carlos achieve the same feat at a GS and then we can stand up and take notice!! Otherwise, this may well be a fluke!!
Mona,
Brava! Again you just said it all! It’s about time! Rafa is always vulnerable at Madrid. He even said that this was not the ideal tournament for him to come back. He says it is the tournament most unlike RG. So it’s big news when he goes out in the quarterfinals? Please!
I made the case about Meddy earning his place. He’s actually done it. Let this kid do it at the slams. Rafa and Novak can be taken out in best of three set matches. Meddy took out Novak at the USO in straight sets! Does that mean anything?
Thank you for restoring some sanity to this discussion.
“Alcaraz’s mastery of tennis GOATs continues”.
At 35, all if a sudden Nadal and Djokovic have A LOT to play for.
Their legacy is on the line. The impressionable public that put them on a pedestal for 2 decades will be the same ones that find a new idol with a claim to GOAT status.
This is hype of the worst order. Nothing and no one can take away what Rafa has done. Same with Fed and Novak. People are getting so carried away that it has become quite bizarre. But attempting to finish or trash what the big 3 have done is ignorant and repugnant. These three have records that well may never be broken.
Let’s a Alcaraz at RG. Because where it counts is at the slams. The one who has proven himself there is Meddy. Yet everyone has forgotten about him. A few months ago people were making comparisons of him with Novak. He has been in the last two slams, winning one and losing the other. He was even number 1 for a brief time. So we are supposed to just forget about him? At least he has achieved something significant.
I remember when Theim beat Rafa a few times in clay court tournaments. He also had good results at RG, getting to the semis and final. They say that the toughest task in tennis is trying to beat Rafa in a five set match at RG. So let’s see what happens,
Novak paid a heavy price for being unvaccinated, I haven’t watched him recently. But in the match with Alcaraz I saw that he was out of form. People said he was getting back to form, but he is not there. He was missing forehands he would make in his sleep and his serve did not seem to be working. He just seemed off.
It remains to be seen if Rafa and Nivsk can get into really good form.
Alcaraz is on a streak with nothing to lose right now. But talking about ten slams now as though it’s a done deal, is absurd. He has to earn it.
They shouldve walked away when they had the chance. They probably thought they had a handle on things until this point and weren’t expecting Alcaraz to improve so quickly.
Now, if they retire it’ll look like they are running away, especially if things get messy.
Alcaraz is only going to get better. As soon as he cuts out those unforced errors where he doesn’t move back on deep balls etc and starts swinging out like Juan Carlos on every ball, it won’t even be competitive.
And Alcaraz is no Medvedev, either. He wouldn’t have handed that AO title to Nadal leading 2-0, that’s for sure.
Medvedev probably thought, it’s only a matter of time before I grab that #1 ranking back.
Now, he may never see that ranking again.
Oh yeah? If Novak doesn’t make the quarterfinals, he loses the #1 ranking.
Medvedev jokingly said “at least I touched it. It’s better to at least touch it than never touch #1 ranking”.
That’s no longer a joke, there’s a high probability be will never touch it again which he never anticipated.
It’s amazing how overconfidence in life can come back and bite you in the bum.
The big 3s quest for more majors than each other, like it makes any difference, will be their demise.
Exactly Raj!!! This is it………..after one time is another!!!! But we’ll just have to wait and c!!! Like we say back here in the Caribbean: tanto tanto!!! The creole version of “time will tell”.
Zverev in two or three sets.
If Zverev beats Alcaraz here, will he be promoted to first tier, with Alcaraz demoted to second tier and the two greats demoted further to third tier?
My head says Alcaraz will win but my heart wants Zverev to win 😂, I will like for Zverev to humble him 😂😂😂 anyways Zverev defeated him twice last year so it would be difficult to make it 3:0
https://www.tennisexplorer.com/match-detail/?id=2087987
Zero love for AZ; he takes 1 set
Oh well, Zverev is done!!! That will be quick!! Lol
barking dog again.. By the way, Raj in the above posts is not me..
Well well well!!!! At least Zverev showed up, lol!! And what did he get for it, 4 games!!!
Disappointing performance from Zverev whilst Alcaraz just plays his normal game. Zverev looks out of sorts, even the two older players looked more energetic when playing against Alcaraz!
It’s quite an embarrassment for Zverev, in a Masters final. He’s the world no.3 and the defending champion, I expect more from him than this!
Congrats to Alcaraz, he’s the real deal after the big three. The likes of Tsitsipas, Zverev and the others better wake up and work harder to win some important titles, before this young guy starts winning them all, after the two/three greats are gone from the game.
I thought Zverev was quite disappointing. He looked good against Tsitsipas. But he just did not bring it today. He is the #3 player. A poor showing. At least Rafa and Novak made it a battle. That’s what champions do, even when not at their best.
Wow from Alcaraz, just wow! Speed, power, a cool tennis head, every shot in the book. The future just arrived.
Well that’s no surprise and Zverev and others never quite had the belly for what it takes to be great!!! They grit and determination and hard work while on court they never really exhibited, unlike Rafa!!
Anyway, congrats Alcaraz for a win well deserved. Wishing him the best for the rest of the season, he’s arrived!!!
The next thing is they will say he is Jesus and can walk on water! 😱
He is eager to please! If you need to ask who “he” is, you are not paying attention to tennis.
Rome I picked Novak, but Rafa and Carlito work as winners in Rome.
WTA is wide open.
The anon is me.
A really in form Zverev would have won that by serving well and not being too defensive which he tends to.
I se Charlie has withdrawn from Rome, which makes a joke of the brackets which had to be in before this final was played.
Smart move by Alcaraz.
I think it’s wise for Alcaraz and his team not to let him overplay; they have to pick and choose wisely the tournaments for him, so that he may be able to avoid major injuries in the future. His game is quite complete, he need not play too many events to improve on his weaknesses.
I think the team studies the careers of the big three, and will definitely try to avoid making some mistakes the big three have made during their respective careers.
I’ll wait and see whether we are finally getting another teenage slam winner now, seventeen years after Rafa in 2005.