Tennis player Alcaraz successfully defended his Masters 1000 title |=> Posted in Bac Giang newspaper

Carlos Alcaraz won his fifth Masters 1000 title in his career, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on the evening of May 7.

Alcaraz is the youngest player to successfully defend a title in the Spanish capital since Rafael Nadal in 2006. The 20-year-old, who has just turned 20, won his 29th match of the season and claimed his 10th career title. He will reclaim the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic when the Rome Masters begins.

Alcaraz have lost just two games since the start of the year.

Alcaraz played the toughest final of the year, lasting 2 hours and 25 minutes against Struff – who was lucky enough to get into the tournament due to an injury to his colleague. Struff had previously beaten both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Aslan Karatsev to reach the final. The German’s aggressive returns meant Alcaraz only won 60% of his first-serve points in the first set.

Struff also made things difficult for Alcaraz with his serve and his backcourt ability. After losing the first set, the German held all five service games in the second set, taking one game from Alcaraz. In the deciding third set, the only difference between the two players was a break point, which Alcaraz took advantage of in the fourth game.

"It was a tough battle," Alcaraz said at the coronation ceremony. "Struff played great, very aggressive. I had many break-points in the second set but he saved them all. I was thinking positively going into the third set and I took advantage of one of his mistakes."

Alcaraz has beaten Struff in two of their three meetings, extending his winning streak on his home clay court to 21 matches. He has reached five finals and won four titles since the start of the season.

Struff also had the most memorable tournament of his career, becoming the first player to reach the final as a lucky ticket holder. He almost became the fourth person in history to win his debut title at a Masters 1000 event. Struff, 33, is in his 14th year as a professional and has yet to win a trophy. Before this year's Madrid Masters, he lost the final of another clay tournament, the 2021 Bavarian Championships.