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Carlos Alcaraz to Join His Idol Rafael Nadal in an Elite List if He Wins the Miami Open Final

Published 04/02/2022, 5:18 AM EDT

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Carlos Alcaraz has been in devastating form at the Miami Open. The Spaniard today beat the 8th seeded Hubert Hurkacz to enter his maiden Masters 1000 finals. Indulging in a neck-to-neck fight, the Spaniard took 2 hours and 2 minutes to topple the Polish player 7-6, 7-6. Winning the semifinals, Alcaraz will now fight for the title against 6th seeded Norwegian, Casper Ruud.

The tennis community around the world is going gala over Alcaraz’s performance and congratulating him for reaching his maiden Masters’ finals. Winning the semifinals, Alcaraz, at 18 years and 11 months, became the fourth-youngest player to reach a Masters 1000 final. Even though he became the fourth-youngest to reach the feat, the question remains, what feats would he be achieving if he wins the finals tomorrow?

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What if Alcaraz wins the ATP Masters 1000 Miami Open?

Miami Open was first played in 1985. Since then, the tournament has seen 17 different winners. Of those 17 different champions at the Miami Open, the youngest to date is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian won his first Miami title in 2007 at the age of 19 years and 10 months. With the win, he currently holds the record of the youngest Miami Open champion.

However, Djokovic’s record seems to be in danger at the 2022 Miami Open. If Alcaraz wins the final showdown, to be held tomorrow, he would dethrone Djokovic to become the youngest player to win the Miami Open in its 37-year long history.

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Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal are two of the biggest names in the history of the sport. In their astonishing careers, the two have a number of records to their names. One such record is being the Top 2 youngest players to win an ATP Masters 1000 event.

Chang, who is also the youngest player ever to win a Grand Slam (French Open at 17 years), won his first Masters title at the 1990 Toronto Open. He won the title being 18 years and 5 months old. On the other hand, Nadal won his first Masters 1000 title at the 2005 Monte Carlo. He won the title being 18 years and 10 months old.

If Carlos wins the 2022 Miami Open, he will join the elite list, following his idol Rafael Nadal to become the 3rd youngest Masters 1000 champion.

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The not so pleasant stats for Carlos Alcaraz

Even though the feats above look exciting for Alcaraz, there is another record that might neutralize the excitement. Going by the records, Spanish players have been a finalist at the Miami Open a total of 8 times. However, what’s distressing is the fact that no Spaniard has ever won a title in Miami. Seeing the statistics, Spanish players stand at 0-8 in the Miami Open Men’s finals.

USA Today via Reuters

Even though the stats give a mixed picture of Alcaraz’s winning possibility tomorrow, it would be interesting to see what the 18-year-old would do, that would be enough to help him achieve the feat that any other Spanish player has failed to achieve.

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Written by:

Ahmar Wasif

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Ahmar Wasif is a tennis author at EssentiallySports. He is a national level tennis player and has a number of titles to his name. His experience on the court allows him to incorporate a deeper understanding in his coverage of the sport.
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Edited by:

Deepika Bhaduri