Carlos Alcaraz to challenge Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas in..

The 68th edition of the prestigious Trofeo Conde de Godo in Barcelona will take place between April 20-26, with some of the finest clay-courters ready to chase the title and 500 ATP points. Placed at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, the oldest Spanish tennis club, the first edition was held in 1953 when the American Vic Seixas lifted the trophy. In 1970, Barcelona became a part of the ATP calendar (with the best-of-five finals until 2006) and Manuel Santana was the first winner in the Open era. The names like Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Manuel Orantes, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Carlos Costa, Thomas Muster, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya and Kei Nishikori have also won the title in the past, with Rafael Nadal as the ultimate champion with 11 crowns between 2005-18. Nadal will return to Barcelona this spring, together with the defending champion Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Kei Nishikori and Roberto Bautista Agut.

The organizers have revealed the first wild card on Tuesday, with the 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz joining the strong field for the main draw debut, losing in the first qualifying round a year ago. Carlos is the most prominent Spanish teenager, standing as the youngest player in the top-800 and writing history in Rio de Janeiro as the first player born in 2003 with an ATP win, barely missing a chance of playing in the quarter-final. In February 2018, Alcaraz qualified for the first professional tournament at home Spain F5 Futures in Murcia at the age of 14, passing three rivals to find himself in the main draw where he grabbed two triumphs, reaching the quarter-final and becoming the first player born in 2003 on the ATP ranking list! Last January, Carlos was the semi-finalist at the M15 Palmanova event, still at 15, followed by the first Challenger win in Alicante in April, delivering the milestone achievement for his generation at this level of competition.

A week later, Alcaraz notched two victories at Murcia Challenger for more points on his tally, standing as one of the youngest players on the reduced ATP ranking list. In September, the El Palmar native advanced into the quarter-final at Seville Challenger, battling for almost three hours against the player ranked 120th and proving his quality ahead of the new season that has been the best possible one for him so far. The youngster won back-to-back Futures titles at Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor and reached another final, standing on the verge of the top-400 ahead of the ATP debut in Rio de Janeiro where he earned a wild card. Stepping on the court at around 11:30 p.m. two Mondays ago, the 16-year-old took down a former Monte Carlo finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 in three hours and 36 minutes, finishing the job at 3 a.m. with the first ATP victory under his belt!

As many times before, Carlos added another milestone for his generation, becoming the first player born in 2003 with a win at the ATP tournament, showing no signs of nerves against a much older and experienced rival. Hitting more than 50 winners and 60 unforced errors, Alcaraz kept the points on his racquet and dictated the pace, wining one point more than Ramos-Vinolas and prevailing in the deciding tie break. Thanks to that second set, Albert claimed five breaks from 15 chances, facing 19 break points and giving serve away four times, enough for Alcaraz to cross the finish line first and celebrate an emotional triumph.

The opening set lasted for more than 80 minutes and it was the youngster who won it 7-2, wasting two set points in the 12th game before taking the breaker with a beautiful volley winner. Ramos-Vinolas grabbed two breaks in set number two for a 6-4 and moved 3-0 up in the decider, looking good to break the rival's resistance and march towards the finish line. Instead of that, Carlos bounced back to rattle off five straight games, delivering breaks in games five and seven and squandering two match points on the return at 5-4. Serving for the victory, the 16-year-old got broken at love to keep Albert in contention, sending the set into a tie break where Alcaraz started all over, clinching it 7-2 to earn the first ATP win in a thrilling style.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3aC7mCL