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Carlos Alcaraz will sek his fourth Masters 1000 crown at the Madrid Masters on Sunday, facing Jan-Lennard Struff in the title clash. Carlos met Borna Coric in the semi-final on his 20th birthday and scored a 6-4, 6-3 victory in an hour and 40 minutes.
Alcaraz praised Coric, saying he had to work hard to beat him and prevail. Carlos and Borna met for the first time, and the Croat gave his best to follow the rival's pace and seek his chances. The Spaniard faced only two break points and lost serve once.
Carlos stole almost half of the return points and turned them into four breaks from six opportunities, enough to move over the top. Alcaraz played well and hit 24 winners and 18 unforced errors. He had the upper hand from the baseline and left Coric on 16 winners and 20 mistakes.
The home star built the advantage in the shortest range up to four strokes. He did more damage with the first groundstroke on serve and return, giving the home crowd something to cheer about.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Borna Coric at the Madrid Masters.
Borna had to dig deep from the encounter's opening game, defending two break points and holding with a service winner after challenging 12 minutes.
Carlos experienced issues behind the initial shot in game four and failed to convert game points before offering Borna a break chance. The Spaniard denied it with a service winner and held with another for 2-2. Alcaraz forced Coric's mistake in the fifth game to secure a break at 15 and forge the first advantage.
Carlos grabbed the sixth game after a drop shot winner and landed a powerful serve at 4-3 to stay in front. Coric produced two fine holds and needed a strong push on the return in the tenth game to prolong the set. Instead, Carlos held at love with a forehand winner for 6-4 in 61 minutes.
The Croat netted a backhand in the second set's third game to experience a break and find himself in a challenging position. He pulled it back in the next one with a forehand crosscourt winner that brought him back to 2-2. Starting all over, world no.
2 broke at 15 in the fifth game for another advantage and confirmed it with a hold at 15 a few minutes later. Carlos opened a 5-3 gap with another comfortable hold and broke at 15 in game nine to seal the deal in style and reach the title clash.
"I knew it would not be easy against Borna. He is a great player, and his level did not surprise me. It was a tight battle in the opening set, and I endured it and sealed the deal in the end," Carlos Alcaraz said.