Tennis: Alcaraz downs Nadal in Madrid to book Djokovic clash
Carlos Alcaraz overcame an injury scare on his way to a milestone victory over Rafael Nadal on Friday to set up a blockbuster semifinal against Novak Djokovic in Madrid.
Alcaraz entered the contest with a 0-2 record against Nadal, but the 35-year-old arrived in Madrid with little to no preparation on clay after six weeks nursing a rib injury.
In an eventful quarterfinal at the Caja Magica, the 19-year-old Alcaraz beat 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 for his 26th victory of the season.
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.
In the third game of the second set, Alcaraz took a tumble trying to retrieve a ball and had a medical timeout at 1-2 to get his ankle taped. Replays showed Alcaraz had badly rolled his ankle.
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Nadal broke upon resumption before play was interrupted again for attention to someone in the crowd.
After a long pause, Nadal held and ran away with the set with Alcaraz visibly restricted in his movement.
Alcaraz moved better at the start of the decider after his toilet break, leaping to a 3-1 lead. He completed the win in two hours and 28 minutes and set up a clash with Djokovic.
Djokovic reached his seventh Madrid semifinal, easing past Pole Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-4 to record a 30th career victory in the Spanish capital.
The world No 1 will face Alcaraz for the first time and heaped praise on the young Spaniard, having spent some time with him practising earlier this week.
Djokovic has not competed much in 2022 as his vaccination status that has prevented him from playing in Australia or entering the United States.
His win on Friday was just his seventh of the year. He’ll be trying to make a second final of the season, having placed runner-up in Belgrade last month.
