Staff Reporter.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday by storming into the Madrid Open final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Borna Coric on Friday to stay on track for his fourth title of the season.
In Sunday’s title clash, the top-seeded Spaniard will face off against qualifier Aslan Karatsev or lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff, who will contest the other semifinal later in the day.
Alcaraz has enjoyed a spectacular start to his career, becoming the youngest man to top the world rankings after his US Open win last September and has already claimed three Masters 1000 titles as a teenager.
He took a big step towards another Masters crown and stamped his credentials as one of the favourites for this month’s French Open on a warm afternoon at the Manolo Santana Stadium with six-time Roland Garros champion Bjorn Borg watching on.
World No 2 Alcaraz heaped the pressure on Coric in their first career meeting and faced stiff resistance from the Croatian 17th seed before drawing first blood with a searing forehand in the fifth game of a physical opening set.
After wrapping up the first set on serve, Alcaraz grabbed an early break and raced to a 4-2 lead in the next, dictating terms against a fading Coric.
He swiftly wrapped up his 28th win in 30 matches this year and celebrated by cutting a massive cake on court.
Russia’s Karatsev later plays German Struff 10 days after easing past him in the final round of qualifying.
Struff was added to the main draw after a late withdrawal and has since enjoyed a fine run highlighted by his quarterfinal win over world No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
@Reuters.