Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz has once again rewritten the record books after booking his place in the semi-finals of the Miami Masters.
The 18-year-old withstood a stern challenge from Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic to prevail 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5), after almost two-and-a-half hours of play. Impressively Alcaraz was broken just once throughout the match as he won 78% of his first service points. He also produced a total of 52 winners against 40 unforced errors.
Alcaraz found himself having to battle from behind multiple times against Kecmanovic, who had beaten Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz earlier in the tournament. At the start he went down 0-3 before clawing his way back to level. Then in the decisive tiebreaker the youngster was down a minibreak before winning five out of the next six points to close out the match.
“It was a pretty close match. I think the atmosphere and this match was unbelievable. I think the best atmosphere that I have experienced on these courts, for sure. It was amazing,” said Alcaraz.
“I enjoyed the match, even though it was a really close and tough match. It was a pretty good match.’
The world No.16 says he managed to seal the win with the help of what he describes as the ‘unbelievable’ support he received from the crowd.
“I think that I’m playing in Spain. It’s unbelievable. The energy that they push to me, it was crazy. I think without them it would not be possible to get into the semifinal today.” He added.
Alcaraz’s latest win means he has become the youngest player in ATP Tour history to reach the semi-finals of both Indian Wells and Miami. In fact, only four players have ever managed to achieve this double in their teens with all of them going to become world No.1 later in their career. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Andre Agassi all achieved the milestone at the age of 19.
Next up for the rising star in Miami will be defending champion Hubert Hurkacz who defeated top seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. The clash will be the first-ever Tour meeting between the two players.
Alcaraz is two wins away from becoming the youngest male player in history to win the Miami Open. This year he has already become the youngest player to ever win an ATP 500 event and the youngest to break inside the world’s top 20 since 1993.
