MADRID: Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday by winning the Madrid Open final, comparing himself to "a bull" in his victory over Borna Coric in straight sets.
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The Croatian was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by the world number two, who was at his best.
The world number 65 from Germany, Jan-Lennard Struff, who was initially eliminated in qualifying but was granted mercy, will be his opponent in the championship match on Sunday.
Alcaraz claimed that he used part of the inner drive that had previously helped him win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in New York last year.
When he said, "There was a moment when I repeated what I repeated at the US Open, that I'm a bull, and that I could do it, and it helped me," he meant "I'm a bull" and "I can do it."
In a close opening set, Carlos Alcaraz, who is playing in his fourth Masters 1000 final, broke for a 3-2 advantage and served it out.
In the second set, he broke to go up 2-1, and when world No. 20 Coric quickly fought back, he did it again to go up 3-2, which he then maintained.
Alcaraz won the match with a second break when Coric went long, advancing to the final with just one set lost—against Emil Ruusuvuori.
After winning, the tournament administrators gave the top seed a birthday cake to enjoy in celebration.
Alcaraz's main disappointment came from learning that fellow Spaniard and 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal will miss the Italian Open the following week due to injury.
Due to a hip injury, Nadal has not competed since the Australian Open in January. The 36-year-old is now a major question for the French Open, which is in three weeks and where he has won the tournament 14 times.
"I sincerely want to meet him at Roland Garros. "The entire world wants to see him at his best," Alcaraz remarked.
Struff, 33, defeated Aslan Karatsev of Russia, who had defeated him in qualification the previous weekend, to go to just his second career final.
Struff, though, atoned for that defeat in Friday's Madrid Open semifinal when injury withdrawals earned him a spot in the main event.
He overcame a set down to defeat 121st-ranked Karatsev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, making him the first "lucky loser" to advance to a Masters final.
On a fifth match point, Struff won the match. In his only previous final appearance, he finished second in Munich in 2021.
In his two hours and 19 minutes of winning, he blasted 37 winners, including 15 aces.
It's incredible, Struff remarked. "I previously played a final in Munich, but there was no audience because of Covid."
Struff and Carlos Alcaraz had previously faced off twice, with the German taking both matches in straight sets in the French Open in 2021 and Wimbledon, respectively.
At Wimbledon, "We played an amazing match, and I was very close to beating him but he pulled off unbelievable shots," Struff said.
It's going to be different this time. This is in Madrid, Spain. It will be really difficult since he is, in my estimation, 20-0 on clay courts in Spain. I have to take the risk because otherwise, I won't have a chance.
Struff, who defeated fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, joined Thomas Johansson in Toronto in 2004 and Lucas Pouille in Rome in 2016 as the third lucky loser to advance to the semifinals in a Masters 1000 tournament.
On Saturday, the world's top two women's tennis players, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka, will face off in the Madrid Open final.
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