Madrid Open: Carlos Alcaraz Upsets Rafael Nadal To Book Novak Djokovic Clash
NDTV
Madrid Open: Carlos Alcaraz overcame an injury scare on his way to a milestone victory over Rafael Nadal on Friday to set up a blockbuster semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Madrid.
Carlos Alcaraz overcame an injury scare on his way to a milestone victory over Rafael Nadal on Friday to set up a blockbuster semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Madrid. Alcaraz entered the contest with a 0-2 record against Nadal, but knew he had his chances given his opponent's lack of match play. Nadal was out of action for six weeks nursing a rib injury, and arrived to Madrid with little to no preparation on clay.
In an eventful quarter-final at the Caja Magica, the 19-year-old Alcaraz defeated 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to post a tour-leading 26th victory of the season.
"It means a lot to me, all the hard work that I put in every day paid off today to beat Rafa, beat the best player in history on clay, it means a lot to me," said Alcaraz, who is the first teenager to defeat Nadal on a clay court.
"It affected me a lot the fall in the second set but when I lost the second, I went to the bathroom and I believed I was able to get back, I was able to do my best, try everything on court, fight until the last ball and I think it was the key."
The first three games went against serve and lasted over 20 minutes before Alcaraz finally held for a 3-1 advantage. Nadal mustered just one more game in that set as Alcaraz snatched a commanding lead.
This comes after Virat Kohli lashed out at Nat Yoannidis, a local journalist upon landing with his family at the Melbourne Airport.
Gary Neville believes Marcus Rashford is approaching the "inevitable ending" of his Manchester United career after the forward was again left out of the matchday squad on Sunday.
On December 20 a Sangeet took place and on the next day there Haldi, Pellikuthuru and Mehendi took place.
After Refusing To Travel To Pakistan, India Will Play Champions Trophy Matches At This Venue: Report
On Thursday, the deadlock over the hosting of Champions Trophy finally ended when the ICC announced that India will play their matches of the 50-over event at a neutral venue.
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has revealed how the logic behind the franchise going buying 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the IPL 2025 auction.
Ravindra Jadeja's alleged Hindi-only press conference has triggered a huge controversy, prompting a press match to be cancelled.
PM Narendra Modi thanked Ravichandran Ashwin for his exemplary services to the game of cricket and his country as the latter decided to retire from international cricket.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi continues to break age-records, having already become the youngest player to play a Ranji Trophy game and to represent India U19 prior to this.
Aston Villa beat crisis-hit Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday to heap more misery on floundering manager Pep Guardiola, who has now suffered nine defeats in his past 12 matches.
Ravindra Jadeja addressed a press conference on Saturday ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne
After Ravichandran Ashwin decided to bid goodbye to an illustrious cricket career, Prithi Narayanan revealed in a long emotional post about what it was to see one of the greatest cricketers of the generation from such close quarters