By Ricky Dimon
The future is now.
Carlos Alcaraz may be an eventual world No. 1 and Grand Slam champion, but it’s time to start thinking about the present when it comes to this 18-year-old. He can win right here, right now.
And that is exactly what he is doing.
Alcaraz improved his season record to 17 wins and only two losses when he defeated defending Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5), 7-6(2) in the semifinals on Friday night. The Spaniard prevailed after two hours and two minutes, setting up a surprising showdown in the title match against Casper Ruud.
Perhaps no one should be surprised about Alcaraz’s presence in this Masters 1000 final. After all, he captured a 500-point title in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year and is coming off a semifinal showing in Indian Wells–where he lost only to Rafael Nadal in a three-setter. Brilliant performances through his first four Miami matches left Alcaraz as a considerable favorite against Hurkacz.
But it wasn’t easy.
Hurkacz always plays his best tennis in Miami (he even finds himself in the doubles final on Saturday alongside John Isner), and that was certainly the case in the serving department on Friday. The world No. 10 struck 13 aces without double-faulting a single time and saved all three of the break point he faced.
“I couldn’t return his serves,” Alcaraz admitted. “I knew the match was going to be long sets like 7-6, 7-6. At the beginning of the sets I saw that I couldn’t return. I thought, ‘well, we are going to play a tiebreak.’ I was at least trying to [hold] my serve. It was a little bit different [than the quarterfinal match against Miomir Kecmanovic] just with serves.”
Alcaraz’s serve was great, too. The 14th seed also fought off all three of the break points against him while firing three aces and no double-faults. He battled back from 5-3 down in the first-set tiebreaker to take it 7-5, just as he had done at Kecmanovic’s expense in their third-set ‘breaker. In the next decider against Hurkacz, Alcaraz jumped out to a quick lead and never relinquished it.
“I have a lot of emotions right now,” the teenage sensation said. “It’s what [I] dreamed of when [I was] a child. It’s pretty good to be in a final here in Miami.”
Pretty good, eh? That’s the understatement of the year.
Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.