Birthday boy Alcaraz dispatches Coric to reach Madrid final

Carlos Alcaraz’s stellar play continues in Madrid, where the defending champion and top seed powered past Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of the Madrid Masters at the Caja Magica on Friday.

The top-seeded Spaniard, celebrating his 20th birthday on a warm, sunny day in Madrid, cracked 24 winners against 18 unforced errors to win for the 20th consecutive time on Spanish soil.

“It means a lot to me, playing another final in Madrid,” said Alcaraz. “Turning 20 like that is special – I will enjoy the final here and of course I will try to make all of Spain happy.”

Alcaraz will face either Jan-Lennard Struff or Aslan Karatsev in Sunday’s Madrid final.

Dominating with the forehand – always the plan

Alcaraz hit 15 winners from the forehand side, against just seven for Coric. He finished the contest with 24 winners and 14 unforced errors, and he won 29 of 62 return points as he converted four of six break points in the one hour and 40 minute contest.

Alcaraz said his plan was to push Coric from the start.

“It was a goal for me at the beginning of the match, I’m trying to start the point playing my game, playing aggressive,” he said. “This is something that I am looking  for in every match you know, trying to attack. I attack on the return. Of course, trying to play with my forehand,I feel really comfortable playing with it. I think I put the opponent to a limit, with the forehand and of course with the drop shots – it’s a key and I try to do it in every match.”

Alcaraz improves to 28-2 on the season, and 18-1 on clay. He will bid to join five-time champion Rafael Nadal (2013-2014) as the only back-to-back winners in Madrid Open men’s singles history.

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Alcaraz is into his fourth Masters 1000 final, and he will bid for his tenth title overall.

The 20-year-old Spaniard beat Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (2-6, 6-4, 6-2), Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 26 seed (6-2, 7-5), German Alexander Zverev, the No 13 seed (6-1, 6-2) and Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 10 seed (6-4, 7-5) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament, Coric, ranked No 20, defeated French wildcard Hugo Gaston (6-3, 6-3), Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 12 seed (7-6 (3), 6-3), Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 29 seed (6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5)) and German lucky loser Daniel Altmaier (6-3, 6-3).

Madrid Masters, other semi-final result (Caja Magica, clay, EUR 7.705.780):

• Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Aslan Karatsev

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