In the semi-finals, the Iberian knocked out Polish champion Hubert Hurkacz. Alcaraz is the youngest-ever Miami winner and the third-youngest winner of 283 Masters 1000 (formerly Super 9) tournaments played since 1990.
Younger winners at this tournament level were only the American Michael Chang in Toronto in 1990 and his compatriot Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo in 2005. Alcaraz will be 19 years old on May 5th. That’s how old the youngest Miami winner was, that was the current world number one Novak Djokovic in 2007. Alcaraz is now also the first Spanish Miami winner, eight final attempts by compatriots before had been unsuccessful. Nadal accounted for five of them – he lost twice each to Djokovic and Swiss Roger Federer.
“I have no words to describe how I’m feeling right now,” said Alcaraz in the first winner’s interview and highlighted his team and family. “It’s so special to get my first Masters 1000 title in Miami.” His tactic was not to let Ruud dictate the match, said the protégé of former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero. “I tried to play his backhand and attack all the time. Forehand and backhand down the line was a pretty good key for me.”
It was the second success of Alcaraz in the second duel with Ruud, the three-time tournament winner moves up to eleventh place in the world rankings. The 23-year-old Ruud got off to a better start with a 4:1 Alcaraz but set the tone from then on and fixed the win of the first set with an overhead smash. After that, the high-flyer made it 3-0 with two breaks, one of which he brought over the distance. Ruud missed his eighth ATP title in his first 1000 final. In the world rankings, the Scandinavian will still reach a career high as seventh.
Source: Nachrichten
