Is Carlos Alcaraz now the favorite for the Roland-Garros tournament (May 22-June 5)? We can reasonably think so. Twenty-four hours after his success in the quarter-finals at the expense of King Rafael Nadal (13 Roland-Garros), the young 19-year-old Spaniard offered himself the scalp of world number one Novak Djokovic, Saturday May 7 in the semi-finals of the Madrid Master Series.
This is the first time that a player has managed to beat Nadal and Djokovic in the same tournament on clay. After a long fight of 3 hours and 35 minutes of play, he won at the end of the suspense (6-7, 7-5, 7-6). Alcaraz was able to brilliantly erase a break point in the last set before making the difference in the tie-break on his second match point. By his precocity and his talent on ocher, the 9th player in the world recalls a certain Nadal, 17 years his senior, whom he therefore beat on Friday in the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz will play the final of the tournament (his first in the Master Series) on Sunday May 8 against the German Alexander Zverev or the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. On Monday, he will be 6th in the world in the ATP ranking. For his part, even if he is obviously disappointed by his defeat, the Serbian Novak Djokovic reassured himself during this tournament in Madrid after being a finalist in the Belgrade tournament at the end of April. His defeat in the first round in Monte-Carlo in April seems far away. The world number one finds the form at the right time, before Roland Garros, of which he is the defending champion.
“I played very good tennis, my best of the year. Probably when the disappointment of having lost this game is over, I will take a lot of positives from this week, believes the Serb. Carlos held his nerves very well. To play with such maturity and courage at his age is impressive. »