Carlos Alcaraz reached the 2024 China Open final after he was able to overpower Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final match.
The Spanish player hasn't reached a final since playing for the Olympic gold medal against Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros. After his loss, which was devastating, some analysts suggested that it might have taken a mental toll on Alcaraz.
It seemed like it in the following weeks, as he surprisingly lost in the first round of the Cincinnati Open before also crashing out of the US Open in the second round of the tournament.
He recorded three losses in four matches, which is a mark rarely seen from Alcaraz. However, he recovered exceptionally. The 21-year-old led Team Europe to win at the Laver Cup and he was able to bring that form also to Beijing.
Entering the ATP 500 event in the China's capital, Alcaraz knew that if he wanted to win the title, he might face two players that reached the World No. 1 rank in their careers, and that became reality.
In the semi-final, he took on former World No. 1, Medvedev, who bested all of his opponents at the tournament without any major issues. They previously met seven times, including twice this year, and the young Spaniard has been much better in their matches, leading the H2H 5-2, and 2-0 this year.
He also started better in this match, breaking his opponent's serve first to lead 3-2. However, Medvedev immediately broke back to make it 3-3. Still, Alcaraz broke once again to lead 4-3, which, again, wasn't enough.
The Spanish player tends to struggle with his serve sometimes, as it's not a weapon, such as Jannik Sinner's serve, which became a real weapon for the Italian player and also helped him to become the World No. 1 player.
Medvedev was even three points away from winning the set, leading 5-4 and 15-0, but from there, Alcaraz won 12 of the following 14 rallies, which was more than enough to win the first set 7-5.
Alcaraz, who will become World No. 2 after the China Open again, broke first in the second set as well, once again in the fifth game. This time, however, he was able to confirm the break with a hold of serve to love, which meant he led 4-2.
His Russian opponent tried to force a break back, but he couldn't find any openings on his opponent's serve. On top of that, Alcaraz added one more break of serve in the ninth game, and it was one to which Medvedev couldn't find a response.
The reason for this was simple. Medvedev was serving to stay in the match, and he couldn't do that, as Alcaraz won the match 7-5, 6-3 to reach the final of the 2024 China Open.
In the final, he will play against the winner of the match between the top seed Sinner and Yunchaokete Bu.
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