It took everything for Carlos Alcaraz to defend his title in Madrid on Sunday against qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff. In front of his family, however, the Spaniard found a way to shine and confirm his supremacy on clay just before Roland-Garros, winning in three sets of 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3.
On paper, this final was uneven. On the one hand, the best player in the world on clay, with 18 wins in 19 matches on this surface this season and winner two weeks ago in Barcelona. On the other, the 65th racket in the world, a 33-year-old roadster with no victory to his name and drafted from qualifying.
However, Struff gave a hard time to the young prodigy of Palmar. Well aware of the talent gap between him and his opponent, the German had only one thing in mind: to be the aggressor. And he employed that strategy extensively throughout the 144 minutes of this final.
The 6’4″ taller netted 52 times during the game. Whether in a serve-volley sequence or to finish the exchange after pushing Alcaraz to its last entrenchments in the back of the field.
The Spaniard had to adjust quickly early in the game as Struff hammered him mercilessly. Suddenly, the gap between the two melted like a vanilla cone in the middle of a heat wave.
Even lobs and passing shots weren’t going anywhere.
Even in the first set, the favorite was fragile on serve. He had given himself a slight cushion by breaking Struff in the first game of the match. However, his first service game lasted almost nine minutes, he was broken on his next game, and the third required the tie. Returns of service from his rival, well planted on the baseline, were smoking.
Alcaraz will however have had his opponent worn out. He saved three break points to slip away with the first set. Even if the second escaped him, the Spaniard remained combative. His mobility and ball touch, as usual, will have annoyed his opponent. The new king of clay may have had a harder time defending his second title in three weeks, but he got there thanks in part to the support of the crowd. The Spanish flags made up the bleachers. In the fourth game of the third end, the local hero asked for the support of the crowd. This break, to make it 3-1, will have made the difference.
Acclaimed and relieved, he finished the tournament lying on his back, like an angel in the sand, with the feeling of accomplishment.
With a foot injury last year, Struff started the season above No. 150 in the world.
He was therefore obliged to go through the qualifications to hope to be part of the main draws. His journey to Madrid ended abruptly against Aslan Karatsev in qualifying, but he ended up being drafted as a ‘lucky loser’.
Brilliantly, by beating Stéfanos Tsitsipás in the quarterfinals and taking his revenge against Karatsev in the semifinals, he was able to play his second career final.
This match against Alcaraz was his ninth of the tournament. Despite the defeat, he has nothing to reproach himself for. Thanks to his performances on Spanish soil, he will be ranked 28th in the world on Monday.
His strategy paid off in the first two thirds of the match. He shook Alcaraz, enough to make him doubt, frustrate and even take off a sleeve. Rarely is the world number two attacked in this way.
To win, it would have been necessary to be more efficient in the service. Alcaraz is certainly the best returner on the circuit, but Struff did not put any luck on his side. In the first set, he hit just 40% of his first serves, giving his opponent a ton of second serves. He climbed to 51% late in the game, but that’s too little against an opponent of this caliber.
Alcaraz defended his title in Barcelona. He just did the same in Madrid. With Rafael Nadal not having played a single match on clay this season, for the first time in his career, the one who celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday is by far the favorite to take top honors at Roland-Garros. He is alone in the world on clay.
It will be interesting to see what happens in Rome next week. Novak Djokovic, defending champion, will have a lot of points to defend. Especially since Alcaraz is blowing his neck just five points behind him and the world leader.
