Alcarath won the title in Madrid for the second consecutive year, beating Struff 2-1

Carlos Alcarath managed to defeat the again outstanding Jan Leonard Struff and won the Madrid Open for the 2nd time in a row and also the 10th title in his career with 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after 2.5 hours .

The 20-year-old Spaniard finished 21st in a row on Spanish soil, going 19-1 on clay this season, scoring his 29th win in 2023 (29-2) and reaching 4 Masters 1000 titles before just 21st was Rafa Nadal, who had reached 9!

At the same time, Alcarath clinched back-to-back titles in Madrid, something only Nadal had managed in 2013-14, while also becoming the youngest to defend his Masters 1000 title since Nadal in Rome in 2005-2006.

The Spaniard had won just 67% of the points from serve position on one of his worst nights behind first serve (43/64), which had fallen below 55% in the final, had 3/11 break points, 19 winners but also 31 unforced Mistake.

On the other hand, Struff played brilliantly at the net, catching the Spaniard with his imposing serve & volley game, but more importantly, he didn’t let Alcarath find a rhythm.

The endgame started ideally for Alkarath, who found the break (1-0) at the first opportunity and then made it 2-0 with a difficult hold.

But from the moment he got over the initial nervousness, Struff made it 8-1 to 2-2 in the biggest final of his career with an easy hold and an impressive break (love play), while he then took with a new hold 3-2 lead for the first time.

Alkarath struggled to hold with just 57% points won in the first serve, but it was evident in the sixth game when the score was 3-3.

The decisive set break followed immediately after Struff’s double fault with Alkarath leading 4:3 and a subsequent hold to make it 5:3.

The German was 5-4 behind, with the world no. 2 ending the set after a terrific hold to erase Struff’s triple break point (0/40) and sit 1-0 in the final.

The 2nd leg of the final started with Struff winning the first 3 games and finding a break in Alkarath’s first service game (3-0). The Spaniard reduced (3-1) and then tried to get his lost serve back in the ensuing 14-minute game, with Struff erasing 5 break points to make it 4-1!

After that, the German’s serve was never in danger, Alakrat couldn’t find a solution for Struff’s serve & volley, who finished the set 6: 3 to 1: 1.

Everything indicated that the deciding set would be decided in a rest. Struff attempted this first, who managed a break point in game 3 (from 40/15) that Alkarath cleared and retained the lead (2-1).

But what the German failed to do at the time, the 20-year-old did right away, found a break (3-1) and celebrated frantically.

From then on, Alkarath found a rhythm in his game and especially in his serve. It’s no coincidence that from the break, the percentage of points won on the first serve reached 84%!

Alkarath redeemed the break with a love game (4:1), while a little later he threatened Struff with a new break, who started making mistakes but also didn’t find the first serve easily. The German fell back to 4-2, but Alcarath’s consistency in service sealed victory and the title in Madrid, as well as his 10th title of his career.

Source: Tennis24.gr