Carlos Alcaraz has praised his confidence right now as he downed Novak Djokovic 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) to reach the Madrid final.
The 19 year-old defeated the world number one in a thrilling match that lasted three hours and 35 minutes to reach his second masters 1000 final.
After losing the first set from a break up, Alcaraz outsmarted Djokovic and used his resilience mixed with athleticism to grind out victory and book his place into the final in Madrid.
It wasn’t just Alcaraz’s stamina as the seventh seed hit 51 winners past Djokovic to cement his history in the Spanish capital.
A mammoth win which sees him climb up to world number six in the live rankings as he continues to show why many are predicting multiple grand slams in his future.
After the match Alcaraz gave confidence as a reason for his ridiculous form, “I don’t know what the difference [between us] was,” Alcaraz admitted to the ATP website.
“It was so close. He had the chances to break my serve at the end of the second set. In the first set as well it was so close in the tie-break. Honestly I don’t know what made the difference.
“This gives me a lot of confidence to play the final tomorrow. I know that I played a really good game, and for the rest of the season I think I am able to play against the best players in the world and beat them as well, so it gives me a lot of confidence.”
Alcaraz will compete in his second Masters 1000 final after beating Casper Ruud in the final of Miami in March.
The young Spaniard also becomes the first player to defeat Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days in the same clay-court tournament.
Now Alcaraz looks to cap off a magical week by defeating either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev in the final.
After his semi-final win Alcaraz is now happy to be competing for another masters 1000 trophy, “I just try to make results, to [play] a good game in every tournament to still be there with the best in the world,” the 19 year-old said.
“Tomorrow I will go for it in the final as I did in Miami, and I’m really happy to be able to play a second Masters 1000 final.”
