If there’s one thing we learned during this year’s Sunshine Double, it’s that Carlos Alcaraz is without a doubt a special talent.
The 18-year-old Spaniard reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the BNP Paribas Open a few weeks ago, and this past Sunday, he was crowned champion at the Miami Open presented by Itaú.
In front of a Hard Rock Stadium crowd filled with Spanish flags, Alcaraz etched himself in the tennis history books as the youngest Miami Open champion ever. Also, at 18 years and 333 days, he became the third-youngest player – right behind Rafael Nadal and Michael Chang – to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.
After his stellar performance in Indian Wells, tennis fans could sense that Alcaraz was destined to make a splash in Miami. Despite his tough draw, the Spaniard only dropped a single set en route to capturing the biggest title of his young career.
Alcaraz defeated Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, Marin Cilic of Croatia, and third-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece with very little difficulty. Then in the quarter-finals, Alcaraz ran into Miomir Kecmanovic, the red-hot Serb, who managed to take him to a third-set tiebreaker. Just by a whisker, the Spaniard came out on top by a score of 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5).
In the semi-finals, Alcaraz played outstanding tennis and took down defending champion Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5), 7-6(2). He maintained that level of tennis in the finals to defeat tournament sixth-seed Casper Ruud, 7-5, 6-4.
With the win against Ruud, Alcaraz is now second in the ATP Race to Turin and first – with a hefty lead – in the Next Gen ATP Race to Milan.
