Carlos Alcaraz will contest his maiden grass final at the 2023 Cinch Championships on Sunday after cruising past a fellow rising star.
The Spaniard advanced to his maiden grass final by beating Sebastian Korda in the semi-final. The match was highly anticipated as Korda was playing a superb event with many assuming him to be a minor favourite. That didn't prove true on the court as Alcaraz was able to produce his best tennis yet to win the match and secure the final.
His level in London comes as a surprise to many including himself as he expressed serious doubts about being able to win the event. A few wins showed him that it's possible for him to play good tennis on the surface and now he's flying high with confidence.
The final has some historic significance to it as well. If he wins he could join an elite company of players that have completed the surface trinity, winning a title on all three major surfaces on the ATP Tour.
Winning on all surfaces is the hallmark of great champions and that's a list Alcaraz wants to be on when his career concludes. He'll just need to win the final on Sunday against Alex de Minaur. If he does, he'll become the 5th youngest player to achieve the surface trinity.
The youngest player ever to complete the surface trinity was Bjorn Borg as he was 17 when he won trophies on all three surfaces. Grass was the first surface he won a trophy on and then hard and finally clay at 17 years and 11 months.
Mats Wilander was the second youngest player to ever achieve the surface trinity. He was 17 when he won a trophy on clay, 18 when he won his maiden hard court trophy, and ultimately 19 when he won a grass one.
Lleyton Hewitt was the 3rd youngest to get it done as he completed the achievement at 19 years and 3 months. He did it 9 days later compared to Wilander as the Swede completed it at 19 years 3 months and 7 days. Hewitt did it at 19 years 3 months and 16 days.
It was the Queen's Club where Hewitt got it done and Alcaraz might do it too. Jimmy Connors is the 4th youngest completing it at 19 as well while Alcaraz has a chance of getting it done at 20. Not the youngest but still, great company to keep.
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