For the first time in his career, Carlos Alcaraz is the champion in Vienna, having beaten Alex de Minaur in today’s final, 6-1, 6-4.
It had been a relatively arduous week for the Spaniard, despite having not lost a set.
He had to battle through a tiebreak in all but one of the five matches he participated in, and had clearly saved his very best tennis for the final, blowing his Australian opponent away in just under an hour and a half.
Speaking courtside before he was presented with the trophy, Carlos Alcaraz was full of praise for Alex de Minaur despite the straightforward nature of his victory.
Then, once handed the microphone on stage, he reiterated these claims to the Vienna Open crowd.
Carlos Alcaraz praises Alex de Minaur after winning the Vienna Open title
Chatting with Sky Sports, the 23-year-old began by assessing De Minaur’s level.
Alcaraz admitted: “Yeah, I mean, you know, my team and I know pretty well Alex de Minaur’s level. His style is really, really dangerous, you know, really flat balls that slip a lot on the court, really low. It’s really difficult to increase the power that I really want to increase, you know, in every shot, in every point.
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“And he’s really, really fast, you know? So you have to earn every point, and you might hit a winner, you know, against everybody except him. So I had to be really careful with that. I had to be really focused on that.
“So we know that I had to start the match really focused, increasing my speed, my pace in every shot, trying to be aggressive and show him that if he wants to win, he has to play better, more aggressive, more solid, and be smarter than me.”
Given the result, it’s fair to say that this worked a treat, and Alcaraz finished by adding: “So, I’m just really happy that, you know, at the end, I found my way and just played great, and obviously, it’s been a really emotional and an amazing week for me that I learned a lot to keep going forward, step by step, playing on indoor courts, trying to gain more confidence playing on this surface.
“I’m just really happy and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Alcaraz may have been frustrated during his semi-final vs Daniil Medvedev, but it was smooth sailing in today’s final, showcasing the level of talent and showmanship we have come to expect from the former world number one.
