Alcaraz edges past Djokovic to reach Madrid Open final

dpa Berlin Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic for the first time with a battling 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) triumph to book his place in the Madrid Ope...

dpaBerlin Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic for the first time with a battling 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) triumph to book his place in the Madrid Open final.World number one Djokovic breezed past Pole Hubert Hurkacz to reach the final four in Madrid for the seventh time, while Alcaraz battled past compatriot Rafael Nadal to make the semi-finals.That made 19-year-old Alcaraz the first teenager to beat record 21-time grand slam winner Nadal on clay on the ATP Tour, and the Spaniard again raced out of the blocks as he immediately broke Djokovic.However, the experienced Serbian returned the favour to level at 4-4, before eventually claiming the first set with a tie-break win after an hour-and-two-minute battle.Neither relented in the second set, with both holding their first five service games before Alcaraz eventually broke the top seed - the first set Djokovic had dropped in Madrid - to send the match to a decider.Alcaraz, buoyed on by a vociferous home crowd, had won three consecutive three-setters before the last-four meeting, and had the chance to follow suit, only for Djokovic to deliver an ace at match point.Another tie-break was required to separate the pair, with Alcaraz eventually triumphing after three hours and 35 minutes to record his sixth straight win over top-10 ranked players.Teenage star Alcaraz became the first player to defeat Nadal and Djokovic back-to-back, while he is the youngest player to defeat a world number one in 17 years.Alcaraz, who has won his last nine matches, will now await the result of the other semi-final between Alexander Zverev and Stefano Tsitsipas to see who he will face in the final on Sunday in the Spanish capital.Rafael Nadal acknowledged Carlos Alcaraz can be considered a “replacement” after losing to his teenage rival at the Madrid Open.Alcaraz is one of the most exciting rising stars on the ATP Tour and only enhanced his growing status with a three-set defeat of the ‘King of Clay’ in the quarters in the Spanish capital on Friday.In doing so, Alcaraz became the first teenager to beat Nadal on clay and he has now won five straight matches against top-10 opponents.Given both men hail from Spain, the comparisons are sure to be made and Nadal can see why many would see Alcaraz as the man to take up the mantle.“It is evident that he is a replacement because one is 19 years-old and the other 36, if it is from today or not I don’t know, we’ll see,” Nadal said.“Above all I’m happy for him, he has been better than me in several facets of the game and I need to improve, as I have been saying.”