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Spaniard became the youngest ATP Tour semi-finalist since 2014

Carlos Alcaraz is used to being the underdog in his matches. The 17-year-old Spaniard has competed against older, higher-ranked opponents as he contests his first tournaments at tour-level.

In Marbella, where he reached his first ATP semi-final in his sixth main draw appearance, he also learned to bottle down his nerves as he progressed further into the tournament – and the spotlight.

But he never quite felt settled against countryman Jaume Munar in their hard-fought semi-final clash at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open. More than just giving the hard-hitting teen a taste of his own medicine, Munar left Alcaraz without a Plan B for the first time this week to hand him a 7-6(4), 6-4 defeat.

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“Munar is a great player. He played very well, and didn’t leave me with a lot of options,” Alcaraz reflected in his post-match press conference. “Nerves definitely had a role, because I wasn’t playing with clarity of thought. All I could think about was that I didn’t have any chances, that Munar was too solid – I was getting frustrated and wasn’t able to get out of it.

“I was only thinking about how badly I was playing, or the mistakes, and not seeing beyond them. In this case, I was actually pushing Munar very hard. But all I could see was that I was making errors, errors, errors, and couldn’t look past that.”

It was a refreshingly mature self-assessment from the 17-year-old, who was bidding to become the youngest ATP Tour finalist since 17-year-old Rafael Nadal in Auckland in 2004. Armed with a big forehand and hailing from Spain, Alcaraz’s rapid rise has regularly drawn comparisons to Nadal.


Alcaraz showed the same fearless determination on court to take down two seeded opponents, Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and No. 26-ranked Casper Ruud. He delighted Spanish fans in Marbella with his electrifying forehand winners and never-say-die attitude.

In the press room, another similarity to Nadal arose: rather than just hunting for positives, Alcaraz was determined to identify and correct his mistakes against Munar. An hour removed from the defeat, the loss still stung, but the Spaniard was already looking ahead.

“Of course, it would have been great to win today and play an ATP Tour final. But now that I’m thinking about things with a little more calm, I’m leaving here with more experience and with good feelings,” he said. “You have to be able to look at the positive side of things. At the end of the day, I came here this week to learn and play some good matches, and I think I’ve been able to accomplish that.”

“There is something that I can learn from with this defeat,” Alcaraz added. “I have to learn from these situations, so the next time I am in a situation like this, hopefully it can go differently.”

How To Watch

Currently No. 132 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the Spaniard is making strides toward another major milestone: a spot into the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan at the end of the season. Alcaraz is set to break the Top 8 with his performance in Marbella, seeking to qualify for the first time.

“Being able to qualify for the Next Gen Finals would be a very positive thing,” Alcaraz said. “It’s a reflection of the high level and hard work that I’ve been doing throughout the year. I hope to continue doing things well, working hard, and playing at a high level.

“But especially I want to keep learning from all of my matches – from all the defeats, all the victories, I want to keep learning and being who I am. I’m enjoying the journey.”

The #NextGenATP star is climbing closer to the Top 100
Carlos Alcaraz has stepped into the spotlight in 2021, checking off plenty of firsts — competing in his first Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 events among them. But the 17-year-old, who is the youngest player in the Top 500 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, is not getting overwhelmed. Instead, he’s acting like a sponge and soaking it all in.

“I’m motivated now to play here in Barcelona at this ATP 500, and then Madrid is an ATP Masters 1000, so for me it’s amazing to play against the great players and to play these kind of tournaments,” Alcaraz said. “I’m getting a lot of experience and I’m looking for that. I’m really happy and really hungry for that.”

The #NextGenATP Spaniard, who is World No. 119, has shown it is a matter of when, not if he will crack the Top 100. The players he has beaten this year include David Goffin, Casper Ruud and Feliciano Lopez.

The protege of former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero is a tough competitor, and Alcaraz is making sure that even when he loses, he is taking lessons from those defeats.

“I learned a lot from the last tournaments, the last matches. It has been [my] greatest matches against the greatest players,” Alcaraz said. “But the biggest thing that I learned is how to manage the pressure in the tough moments, the nerves, what game I have to play in the tough moments, to be aggressive all the time.”


Despite his tender age, Alcaraz strikes the ball like a fully developed ATP Tour pro. The teen, who first made his mark last year as a 16-year-old in Rio de Janeiro by beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a three-hour, 37-minute marathon, has not been infallible. In his first tour-level semi-final last week in Marbella, Alcaraz struggled to consistently find his best level against Jaume Munar.

Although the 6’1” righty was disappointed, he realised there were things he could take away from the match to improve.

“I’m learning to play always the same, not to play in a different way in the tough moments and the beginning of the match,” Alcaraz said. “I’m learning and I’m really happy to learn that.”

How To Watch

Earlier that week, Alcaraz upset Ruud 6-2, 6-4. At the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Norwegian reached the semi-finals, showing the form the Spaniard is capable of. Ruud was impressed.

“I played pretty well in Marbella, but I lost to a good young player. I got a tough beating there,” Ruud said in Monte-Carlo. “He was playing very well. [It] surprised me a bit how well Alcaraz was playing back in Marbella. He showed me that the young guys are coming.”

Two years ago, Alcaraz lost in the first round of qualifying in Barcelona as the World No. 505. Now knocking on the door of the Top 100, the 17-year-old will try to prove Ruud and plenty of others who believe in his potential right, starting with his first-round match against Frances Tiafoe.

Did You Know?
Alcaraz turns 18 on 5 May. Another 17-year-old in the Barcelona field, Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune, will be 18 on 29 April.

Second seeds eliminated in Belgrade
Seventeen-year-old Carlos Alcaraz had never played a tour-level doubles match when he walked on Pista 2 on Monday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. However, the #NextGenATP star and countryman Pablo Carreno Busta still earned an impressive win.

The Spaniards upset fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 6-1 in 68 minutes to reach the second round at the ATP 500. They will next play one of two all-French pairs: Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin or Adrian Mannarino and Benoit Paire.

Alcaraz and Carreno Busta saved four of the five break points they faced and earned four service breaks against the experienced doubles tandem.


Second Seeds Eliminated In Belgrade
Luke Bambridge and Dominic Inglot ousted second seeds Austin Krajicek and Oliver Marach 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 10-7 to reach the second round of the Serbia Open in Belgrade. The Brits saved one match point at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break.

Aljaz Bedene and Divij Sharan took a 6-1 lead against Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas when Cuevas retired due to a left leg injury. Bopanna and Cuevas won titles together in Monte-Carlo and Vienna in 2017.

The Spanish teen recently reached the Marbella semi-finals
#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz earned his spot in the Millennium Estoril Open main draw on Sunday with a 7-5, 6-3 win against countryman Carlos Taberner. The 17-year-old will play former World No. 3 and sixth seed Marin Cilic in the first round of the main draw.

This will be the first time that Alcaraz faces a Grand Slam champion. Cilic triumphed at the US Open in 2014, and the Croatian is pursuing his 19th tour-level singles title this week.

VIEW ESTORIL DRAW

It has been a breakthrough season for Alcaraz, who has earned wins against Top 30 stars David Goffin and Casper Ruud. Former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero's protege reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final and semi-final in Marbella.

The other qualifiers in Estoril are Spaniards Jaume Munar and Pedro Martinez as well as wild card Nuno Borges of Portugal.