Carlos Alcaraz celebrates the victory against Hubert Hurkacz in the Miami Masters 1,000 semifinal. /
The Murcian can become the youngest champion in Miami and the first Spaniard to win the title
Carlos Alcaraz reminded journalists of the maxim his grandfather gave him. “Head, heart and balls.” The three “Cs”, as the tennis player defined them after eliminating Hubert Hurkacz, still the current champion of the Miami tournament, to reach his first Masters 1,000 final. In Indian Wells he reached his first semi-finals and here he has taken another step, the grand final.
The 18-year-old’s career is meteoric and he is already the second-youngest finalist in Miami history. He is second only to Rafael Nadal, who faced and lost to Roger Federer in 2005. He made it 29 days younger than Alcaraz is today.
If he wins the trophy, the third of his sports career, Alcaraz will become the youngest Miami champion and will end the curse that the Spanish treasure in Florida. Spain does not have a male winner, but a female one, since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was a pioneer and beat Gabriela Sabatini in 1992 and Steffi Graf in 1993.
In boys, eight finals have been lost, five of them, by Nadal. The man from Manacor yielded in 2005 (Federer), 2008 (Nikolai Davydenko), 2011 (Novak Djokovic), 2014 (Djokovic) and 2017 (Federer). Miami, along with Paris, are the only Masters 1,000 that Nadal has not won. In addition to his lost finals, there are those of Carlos Moyá, in 2003 (Andre Agassi), Sergi Bruguera, in 1997 (Thomas Muster), and David Ferrer, in 2013 (Andy Murray).
Alcaraz has before him the opportunity to break down this barrier. He will face Norwegian Casper Ruud, who has eliminated Henri Laaksonen, Alex Bublik, Cameron Norrie, Alexander Zverev and Francisco Cerundolo in Miami, to get into his first Masters 1,000 final. The Norwegian, the best in the history of his country, has barely dropped a set on the way to this final, he will release the best ranking of his career on Monday (7) and he already knows what it is to face Alcaraz.
They did it in the quarterfinals of the Marbella tournament in 2021, when neither of them even dreamed of standing on a stage like this. He swept the Spanish, with a convincing 6-2 and 6-4 in hour and 20 that certified a potential that he would later confirm with his first victory at Roland Garros and his first title in Umag (Croatia).
If he wins the title, Alcaraz will be the third youngest tennis player in history to win a Masters 1,000. At 18 years and 335 days, the Murcian will be ahead of Andriy Medvedev, who lifted the trophy in Monte Carlo 1994 at 19 years and 7 months, Djokovic, who won Miami 2017 at 19 years and 10 months, and Andre Agassi, who triumphed in Miami 1990 with just a few days more than Djokovic. He will only be surpassed by Nadal, who debuted in Monte Carlo 2005 at the age of 18 years and 10 months, and Michael Chang, who won in Montreal 1990 at the age of 18 years and 5 months.
“A lot of emotions are going through my head right now. This is the dream of every child. incredible a final here, I love playing here, the fans are fantastic. I will try to play as if it were a first round, I want to enjoy it and it will be a great final, ”explained the man from El Palmar in statements at the foot of the track.
He also remembered his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who could not accompany him in Miami due to the death of his father. «He is always with me, even if he is not. Everything I have achieved is thanks to him », he pointed out.
