Carlos Alcaraz became the 1st tennis player since Rafael Nadal to repeat at Barcelona Open as the 19-year-old dominated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the final.
Barcelona open has witnessed some moments as Novak Djokovic has suffered a three-set defeat to Martin Klizan in the second round. But there’s no upset in the final as the home star Alcaraz was crowned the trophy.
What happened
Calmly in control and looking as dominant as ever, Alcaraz impressed on the court as he faced Tsitsipas on Sunday.
The Spaniard grabbed a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over his opponent to secure his third title of the year, and somewhat his ninth of an impressive young career.
He could be seen to have been totally relaxed while sitting on the bench, watching the home crowd enjoying the moment.
His opponent, 24-year-old Tsitsipas was a familiar face of the tournament in Catalan, having been finalist twice in 2018 and 2021, both of those time he was defeated by the one-and-only Nadal.
Tsitsipas was looking for hist first title of the year, but seemed like he had to wait a bit more, after losing the Alcaraz, who was playing his fourth final in five tournament this year.
He and Tsitsipas exchanged breaks early in the first set but Alcaraz eventually took control to comfortably secure his fourth consecutive win over the fifth-ranked Greek. He had also beaten Tsitsipas in the Barcelona quarterfinals last year.
Alacaraz to follow Nadal’s footstep
Alcaraz had not successfully defended a title in his career before the victory on Sunday.
The legendary clay-master, Nadal, was the last player to win consecutive titles in Barcelona with three straight from 2016-18. Alcaraz will also try to defend his title at the upcoming Madrid Open.
Nadal could be proud has his ‘heir’, Alcaraz now became the first player since Rafa to repeat as Barcelona Open champion.
