By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 30, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz ruthlessly dispatched Taylor Fritz for his tenth consecutive victory, booking a spot in the Miami semis.
Photo Source: Matthew Calvis
Faced with his biggest test of this year’s Miami Open, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz delivered his most jaw-dropping performance of the fortnight. The 19-year-old World No.1 was locked in from first ball to last as he dispatched No.9-seeded Taylor Fritz in a high quality battle on Thursday night in Hard Rock Stadium, 6-4, 6-2.
Alcaraz, who stretches his winning streak to 10 victories as he closes in on becoming the youngest man to ever win the prestigious Sunshine Double, will face Jannik Sinner in the semifinals on Friday night in Miami.
Alcaraz defeated Sinner in the semifinals en route to the Indian Wells title two weeks ago, 7-6(4), 6-3, and leads the pair’s all-time rivalry 3-2 (with two consecutive wins).
The teenage phenom still hasn’t dropped a set since he took the court for his first match at Indian Wells, and he improves to 18-1 overall on the season and 10-1 lifetime in Miami.
He was out of the gates fast against Fritz in the pair’s first meeting. Alcaraz broke in his first return game in each set, and never looked back. Fritz did put him to task in the opening set, earning break points in successive games, but Alcaraz had all the answers as he wiggled out of trouble to hold for 3-1 and then produced a brilliant break point save while serving at 3-2, 30-40, before also securing safe passage for 4-2.
Fritz started well, but he was out of options by the second set as Alcaraz continued at an extremely high level, mixing thunderbolt power from the baseline with deft touch at the net. Eventually Fritz yielded the double-break with a sketchy second serve handing the Spaniard the 5-2 lead.
He wasted little time putting an end to the contest, converting his first match point with a perfectly placed unreturnable serve out wide.