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Carlos Alcaraz battles back against Novak Djokovic to book spot in Madrid Open final

After winning the Barcelona Open earlier this month, Carlos Alcaraz is enjoying more success in his homeland, reaching the Madrid Open final with a win over Novak Djokovic on Saturday.

Carlos Alcaraz' superb breakthrough year continued on Saturday afternoon, with the 19-year-old beating Novak Djokovic 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6 (5) to reach the Madrid Open final.
The result follows a superb quarter-final win over compatriot Rafael Nadal, and having beaten the 21-time Grand Slam winner, he followed it up with another victory over 20-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.

The Serb edged the opening set through a tie-break, but Alcaraz levelled it up in the second to send it to a decider. This time, though, it was Alcaraz who came out on top in a dramatic tie-break, earning him a spot in the final.

Following Alcaraz' success over both Nadal and Djokovic, he's become the first player in history to beat the iconic duo in consecutive days on a clay court.

The Spaniard had to show some grit during Saturday's clash, with Djokovic winning the opening set despite Alcaraz' early break.

But not disheartened, Alcaraz came back fighting in the second set, and after another tight battle with the world No.1, a late break drew the Spanird level.

With it all to play for in the decider, Djokovic refound his rhythm but neither player were able to break their opponent.

Alcaraz came closest in the 10th game of the set, with the 19-year-old reaching match point, but Djokovic's experience shone through as he went on to hold serve and stay level at 5-5.

After the duo managed to hold serves again to make it 6-6, the match went to a climactic tie-break, and Alcaraz did well to keep nerves out of his game.

He raced to a 2-0 lead and was able to maintain his advantage through his serve, sealing the victory with his third match point.

Having seen off Djokovic, Alcaraz can celebrate becoming the youngest-ever Madrid finalist, while preparing for the finale against either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev.

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