Carlos Alcaraz is already in his first final on grass. The Murcian tennis player outdid himself and in his best match of the Queen’s tournament, a Wimbledon prologue, he reached the final by beating the American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and twenty minutes of play. In tomorrow’s final he will have to deal with the Australian Álex de Miñaur, who in the other semifinal beat the Danish Holger Runer 6-3, 7-6. If he won, the Murcian tennis player would return to number 1 in the ranking.
At only 20 years old, three less than his rival tomorrow, it seems unquestionable that the Murcian is the best of the ‘next gen’, the tennis players who have finally, now yes, taken over from the eternal Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovc and Roger Federer.
The tennis player from El Palmar will not only fight to be number one again, but also to win his first title on grass. He accumulates 4,475 points, ahead of Daniil Medvedev and only behind Novak Djokovic, with 4,745, thanks to the Australian Open and Roland Garros crowns.
As expected, the match was not easy for Alcaraz against a tennis player who had been playing very well and who had reached the semifinal by eliminating local Cameron Norrie.
The first set was very close and it was only really broken in the ninth game, when the Spaniard’s second break came with a forehand that reached 148 km/h.
Unlike Friday’s match against Dimitrov, the match began with a break from Korda. He equalized for Alcaraz in the next one because Korda hit three double faults and then the Murcian held his serve to love. He was able to get 3-1 ahead but Korda saved two break points in the next game. Each one maintained their services with difficulties but Alcaraz did break his rival to get to 5-4 and serve, which earned him the first set 6-3.
The second sleeve also began presided over by equality. Alcaraz achieved the break in the third game to get 2-1 and confirmed it without excessive problems in the next. Each one kept his serve but the game had already become very uphill for the American because the Murcian was very firm with his first serves and Korda did not see a way to counteract the break he had below him. With 5-4 Alcaraz already had two match balls with 40-15. He missed the first, but not the second. He closed the game with a subtle touch with his right foot, early and from below, to catch the 22-year-old American off guard and 32nd, who will be 25th on Monday, his best position.
Whatever happens today, Alcaraz’s season is already fantastic. With this he has played eight semifinals in nine events and it will be his sixth final in 2023, the year in which he has won four tournaments: Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Godó in Barcelona and Madrid and has lost the one in Rio de Janeiro due to a injury. Djokovic separated him from the fight for the trophy at Roland Garros in the semifinals and could not be at the Australian Open due to the physical setback he suffered shortly before during training.
