The 19-year-old Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz mastered Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 6-4) brilliantly on Sunday in the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona, and thus retains his title, a year after his first coronation in Catalonia. The world number 2 – and seeded 1 – was somewhat roughed up early in the game by his Greek rival, who hung him up to 3-3, but the Spaniard, thanks to his devastating drop shots, then flew away in the first set which he won 6-3.
In the second set, Alcaraz broke his rival at 2-2 to break away 4-2, then chained the perfect shots to achieve for the first time in his young career to retain a title in an ATP tournament, ending with a game white and four winners on his serve. This trophy allows “Carlitos” to fill up with confidence, one month before the start of Roland-Garros. This is the ninth title in the professional career of the Spanish phenomenon, already winner this season of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 on hard court a month ago, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final and the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires in February.
After two weeks of interruption due to physical glitches at the end of the Miami Masters 1000, which he left in the semi-finals after a loss in three sets 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 2-6 against Italy’s Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz struggled in the round of 16 and quarter-finals in Barcelona, before unfolding in the semi-final against Daniel Evans and beating Tsitsipas in the final for the fourth time in four encounters. On the other hand, it is the third loss in the final in Barcelona for the Greek, 5th in the world, who had already been defeated by Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021.