Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, secured a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 win against Karen Khachanov, ensuring he will celebrate his 20th birthday on the court at the Madrid Open. His win set up a semifinal against Borna Coric on his birthday. Alcaraz has won 117 matches out of his 150 tour-level matches, leaving him with a winning percentage of 78%, better than that of Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, and Andre Agassi. His dream is to become one of the best tennis players in history, and he will work for it.
Iga Swiatek, the Women’s No. 1, won her match against Petra Martic and cruised to the last four in the Spanish capital. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz was down 4-1 and 5-2 in the final set before winning the last five games to secure his fourth straight-set victory in Madrid. The top-seeded Spaniard will be playing in his third Masters 1000 semifinals of the season.
Alcaraz converted on his first match point after Khachanov had taken control of the second set with an early break. He had to fight hard and stay strong to win the match. Alcaraz is attempting to become the first player this season to win two Masters 1000 titles, having already lifted the trophy in Indian Wells. If he wins the title again in Madrid, he will regain the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
In the women’s category, Veronika Kudermetova reached the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time by upsetting third-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka faces ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the other women’s semifinal.
