MADRID (Reuters) - World
number two Carlos Alcaraz beat lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday to defend last year’s title and win his fourth ATP Tour trophy of the year and his tenth overall.
Alcaraz, who had an injury-plagued start to the season, came back in top form last month to win the Barcelona Open for the second consecutive year.
The victory was the fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy for Alcaraz, who became the youngest world number one last September when he won the U.S. Open and held that spot for 20 weeks until Novak Djokovic took it back in January.
In Madrid, the 20-year-old Spaniard had to play his best tennis to beat a relentless Struff in three sets in a packed Caja Magica.
Lucky loser Struff’s run to the final was part of a remarkable turnaround in fortune for the German, who dropped outside the top 100 last year but is back up to 65th after reaching the quarter-finals of last month’s Monte Carlo Masters.
Alcaraz enjoyed a dream start to the match, breaking Struff’s serve in the first game.
The German fought back to return the favor, making things uncomfortable for the world number two with his aggressive tactics and relentlessly attacking Alcaraz’s serve.
Struff nailed every return to break serve in the fourth game but the Spaniard produced another break and closed the set 6-4.
Struff rushed to a 3-0 lead in the second set, which he took 6-3, but Alcaraz woke up in the third, breaking to lead 3-1 and taking the set 6-3.
Alcaraz is raring to get to Italy next week to compete in the Rome Masters for the first time in his career and reclaim the world number one spot from Djokovic.