King Carlos: Sensational Alcaraz crushes Zverev to win Madrid Masters title

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz secured the biggest clay-court title of his career as he crushed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 to win the Madrid Masters on Sunday.

The 19-year-old, who beat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to reach the final, produced a seemingly nerveless performance as he cruised past the German to win his second Masters 1000 title, his fourth title of 2022 and send out a message that he will be a major threat at this month’s French Open.

Two-time champion Zverev, who finished his semi-final at 1am on Sunday morning, looked jaded and out of ideas and Alcaraz needed just 62 minutes to wrap up victory.

He’s now 5-0 in finals and now owns seven straight wins over top 10 players.

Alcaraz looked a little nervous in the opening exchanges but it lasted less than one game as he quickly settled down, pummelling groundstrokes and feathering drop shots, just as he had against Nadal and Djokovic.

Zverev stayed on terms to 3-2 when Alcaraz gained his first break and from then on it was one-way traffic.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with an early break putting Alcaraz completely at ease and the Spaniard broke twice and then clinched victory when Zverev double-faulted for the fifth time in the match.

“Carlos, right now, you’re the best player in the world, even though you’re 5 years old”

Zverev to Alcaraz

Zverev paid tribute to the crowd for helping him to find form and to Alcaraz.

“Carlos, right now, you’re the best player in the world, even though you’re 5 years old, you’re still beating us all. It’s great for tennis that we have someone who is going to win many Grand Slams, be world No 1 and win this tournament many times,” he said.

You might also like this

VIDEO: The 48 hours that changed history for Alcaraz (and modern tennis?)

tennis majors

Brilliant Alcaraz edges out Djokovic to reach Madrid Masters final

tennis majors

Two-time Madrid champion Zverev back in final after beating Tsitsipas

tennis majors