INTUSK MAGAZINE

Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2 player in world ranking, defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the Madrid Open final on Sunday, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to retain his title and win his fourth ATP Tour trophy of the year and his tenth overall.

Alcaraz, who had a difficult start to the season due to injuries, returned in superb form last month to win the Barcelona Open for a second straight year. In a crowded Caja Magica in Madrid, the 20-year-old Spaniard had to play his best tennis to defeat a tenacious Struff in three sets.

Struff’s aggressive returns helped him to rush to a 3-0 lead in the second set, which he took 6-3, but Alcaraz woke up in the third, breaking to lead 3-1 and winning the set 6-3. Alcaraz, who became the world's youngest No. 1 in September when he won the US Open, won his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title with the victory.

Alcaraz has now won 21 straight matches on clay courts in Spain, but he had to work hard to defeat the 33-year-old, who was trying to become just the fourth player to win his first tour-level trophy at an ATP Masters 1000 and was the first lucky loser to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final since the series' inception in 1990.