It was after 1am in Madrid by the time Alexander Zverev completed his semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, but rest was not on his mind. Zverev, the second seed and defending champion at the Caja Mágica, instead remained on court to practise his serve. Some questioned the wisdom of that choice, with only hours remaining until the German returned to the Manolo Santana Stadium to face Carlos Alcaraz. As it turned out, he should probably have stayed out there longer.
This was an execution. An evisceration. A 6-3, 6-1 humiliation of the third-best player in the world by a 19-year-old playing the Madrid Open for just the second time. That is as many times as Zverev has claimed the title. If Alcaraz stays fit, it could be a long time before he wins a third. When Alcaraz suggested in his on-court address that his vanquished opponent would reach world No 1 and win many grand slams, Zverev chuckled dismissively. No chance. That ship has sailed now.
The contest had the air of a coronation. Alcaraz, champion in Barcelona, now champion in Madrid, is doing a Rafael Nadal, cleaning up on the red dirt with the French Open on the horizon. Nadal, beaten by Alcaraz in the quarter-finals at the Caja Mágica in a match the 21-time slam champion described as “a handover”, once did that as a matter of routine. On 13 occasions, the sequence culminated with Nadal biting into the Coupe des Mousquetaires on the first Sunday in June, and here Alcaraz emulated his childhood idol’s singular trophy celebration, sinking his teeth into the trophy for the cameras.
It remains to be seen whether he can continue on that trajectory by claiming the biggest prize of all in Paris. Five-set tennis is a very different beast, and while Alcaraz has defeated both Nadal and Novak Djokovic this week – the first player ever to do so across consecutive days on clay – he remains a relative novice on the big stage, his best showing so far a quarter-final finish at last year’s US Open. That is expected to change imminently, and the eyes of the world will be on him in the 16th arrondissement. Alcaraz acknowledged that there would be expectation, but vowed to embrace it.
“Roland Garros is special for me because of the fact that last year it was the first grand slam [where] I was able to make it to the third round, winning good matches, playing at a good level,” said Alcaraz.
“This year, I think that people are going to think I’m going to be one of the favourites to win Roland Garros, but I always said that I have a different view. I don’t have it as tension, I have it as a motivation. I really look forward to going to Paris, to fighting for the grand slam, and I am really looking forward to show my great level in a grand slam.”
Alcaraz has now played five finals and won them all without dropping a set. Over the past three days, he has beaten three of the world’s top four players, and against Zverev he did not face a single break point. Following his victories at two of the past three Masters 1000 events, he will move up to a career-high of sixth on Monday. With 28 victories from 31 outings, Alcaraz leads the ATP Tour for match wins this year. His four titles this season – in Rio, Miami, Barcelona and now Madrid – also represents a better return than any of his rivals.
It is plain to see what makes him different. Who else, playing in only their second Masters final, takes the ball out of the air at 15-30 in the opening game to caress the sweetest of winning drop volleys – from behind the service line, if you please– and then smiles broadly, almost as though amused by his own unorthodoxy? Who else is capable of maintaining a steady rhythm amid constant changes of tempo, caressing the ball one moment, pounding it with withering force the next? And who else, at 19 years old, could command a crowd with the kind of preternatural assurance Alcaraz has shown this week?
Alcaraz’s performance was all the more remarkable for the fact that he woke up barely able to walk, the result of a heavy fall he suffered against Nadal combined with a painful blister.
“Due to the fall that I had with Rafa, the ankle, I had a problem, and this morning it was a little more swollen,” said Alcaraz. “Also I had a blister on my foot which was a little bit infected, and it was a little bit [of a] tough start to the day. It was difficult for me to walk, but I think that after a while with my team, with the physio, with the doctor, we managed to fix it, to do something to be able to be 100%.”
That was considerably more than could be said for Zverev, who took aim at the organisers over the late scheduling of his match against Tsitsipas, the impact of which he said had diminished the final as a spectacle.
“The ATP’s job was an absolute disgrace this week,” said Zverev, whose straight-sets quarter-final win over Felix Auger-Aliassime also finished well after midnight. “Two days ago I went to bed at 4.30am. Yesterday, I went to bed at 5.20am.
“If any normal person goes to bed one night at 4am., the next night at 5am., it will be a tough time just to be awake for them. And for me to play a final against Carlos Alcaraz – who, for me, is the best player in the world right now – in a Masters 1000 event the next day, it is difficult.
“Today on court I’m a little bit angry, I would say, because I had no coordination. I had no coordination on my serve, I had no coordination on my groundstrokes.”
Alcaraz revealed he would skip the Italian Open in order to rest his foot ahead of Roland Garros.
“Given the state of my feet and my ankle,” said Alcaraz, “I think that it’s better to rest, to recover my ankle, recover my feet, to be in Paris at 100%.”
After the events of the past few days, Alcaraz’s absence may come as a relief to his beleaguered rivals.