Sublime Carlos Alcaraz dismantles Alexander Zverev in 61 minutes to win Madrid Open

ATP Tour
Delight for Carlos Alcaraz

Those who attended the 2022 Madrid Open final witnessed a massacre as the new darling of Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz brushed aside defending champion Alexander Zverev to win yet another title.

It has been a dream week for Alcaraz as he celebrated his birthday on Thursday and followed it up with a win over his childhood idol and third seed Rafael Nadal on Friday before upsetting world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-final a day later.

And the 19-year-old completed the treble with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over second seed Zverev in just 61 minutes on the Manolo Santana main court on Sunday.

Alcaraz came into the Madrid Open on a high as he won the Barcelona Open a week ago and also claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title, the Miami Open, in March.

The youngster did not put a foot wrong in the first set as he had Zverev under pressure early on.

The German initially looked like he would make a match of it as he started with a comfortable hold, but then had to save a break point in game four before Alcaraz broke to love in game four.

After serving it out to love, the Spaniard dominated the second set as he won six games in a row, courtesy three consecutive breaks of serve as Zverev capitulated.

Zverev told his opponent during the trophy presentation that “right now you are the best player in the world” and the youngster will climb to a career-high No 6 when the ATP Rankings are updated on Monday, May 9.

“Last year I came to Madrid to live a new experience and measure myself against the best in the world. Today I feel like one of them,” Alcaraz said.

There could be a rematch of the final in the Italian Open quarter-final next week as Alcaraz and Zverev are both in Section 2 with the Spaniard taking on Cristian Garin in the second round while the German will face a qualifier.

Alexander Zverev Carlos Alcaraz

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