Alcaraz is a rocket

Carlos Alcaraz brilliantly qualified for the final of the Miami Open, the first of his career in a Masters 1,000, after beating defending champion Hubert Hurkacz in two tiebreaks (Casper Ruud obtained his position yesterday with his victory against Francisco Cerúndolo by 6-4 and 6-1). Before the result of Friday night’s match, Carlos’ season was already sensationalway above what he himself expected when he said this after winning the NextGen Masters tournament in Milan last November: “The next ATP Finals are a very cool goal, very difficult, I would say almost impossible, but we will fight and work to achieve it.”

Five months later he is third in the race (see table), which means that only two players have been better than him, in terms of points added, in the first three months of the course. There are other aspects in which it stands out above almost everyone, such as the percentage of wins. The Murcian accredits 89.5% with a balance of 17-2 and is only surpassed by Rafa Nadal (95.2% with his 20-1). He has not lost to any player who is not top-10 in the ranking, since the two who have beaten him, Berrettini in the third round of the Australian Open and Nadal in the semifinals of Indian Wells, were at that time 7th and 4th in the world, respectively. Alcaraz has played four tournaments and won a title (Rio de Janeiro). He adds 1,550 points.

In the world ranking, Charly is virtually 12th and would be 11th if he lifts the trophy on Sunday (19:00, #Vamos). In the best of cases, he would be only 29 points from the top-10, on whose border the British Cameron Norrie would be from Monday. In the event of that great victory in Miami, Alcaraz would rise to second place in the race, behind Nadal.

numbers and personality

The numbers cause the impact of the figure of the pearl of Spanish tennis to be very great, but what is really all the rage is his style and behavior on and off the court. It raises almost as much expectation as the great figures. The tournaments raffle it off, the ATP itself considers it a product of maximum interest for its dissemination and the fans adore it. His triumphs are dedicated to his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero (who is in Villena), and this father, Eduardo, who died just a few days ago. He spends a lot of time signing autographs and balls, taking photos and giving away bracelets and other personal items to the children. He, a simple boy, “from the village”, as he likes to emphasize, still does not believe what is happening to him: “Off the track it is also very important how you behave. I am a close person, friendly too. It’s amazing that people want an autograph from me. I’m young, and like I said, a kind person, so I do whatever they want.”