Top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will take on 17th seed Borna Coric of Croatia in the Madrid Open semifinals on Friday. With the kind of form Alcaraz is in, it will take a brave man to support the Croatian in the last-four clash.
However, remember that Coric has also won a Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last year. Hence, he is not totally alien to big matches and success in big tournaments.
Carlos Alcaraz has a complete, all-court game:
It is difficult to find any fault in Alcaraz’s game. At the young age of 19, he has very powerful groundstrokes off either wing, good volleying skills, world-class drop shots, and has also improved his serve considerably. He is as dangerous from the forecourt as he is from the baseline that makes his opponents’ job of finding a chink in his armor all the more difficult.
After surviving a tough match against Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round, Alcaraz has won each of his last three matches in straight sets. He has looked in ominous form and will take some stopping. He has also been receiving vociferous support from the home crowd that often acts as an added impetus. The Spanish teenager, who will turn 20 on Friday, has now won 19 consecutive matches on clay on his home soil.
Borna Coric can make a match of it with his tenacity:
In such a scenario, Coric will have to be as error-free as possible to make a match of it. Apart from having a solid backhand, he does not quite possess the weapons to blast Alcaraz off the court. More powerful players like Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov have failed in this regard.
Hence, Coric will have to minimize his errors and be ready to move quickly to the net to get hold of Alcaraz’s drop shots. He will have to play a patient game and wait for the Spaniard to go for the big shots. Even that approach does not guarantee success by any means, but that seems to be the best option available to the Croatian.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
