Carlos Alcaraz has moved to within one set of capturing his fifth ATP Masters 1000 crown Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he leads German lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4.
The 20-year-old is aiming to join Rafael Nadal as the only consecutive Madrid champions in tournament history, while he is trying to become the youngest player to successfully defend an ATP Masters 1000 title since Nadal at Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2005-06.
If Alcaraz can clinch his 29th win of the season and 10th tour-level crown, he will rise to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after playing his opening match in Rome.
The defending champion survived an attacking bombardment from the big-serving German throughout the 53-minute first set, hanging in rallies with his exceptional agility to force Struff into errors. Alcaraz gained what proved to be the decisive break of the first set at 3-3 when Struff double faulted, battled from 0/40 to hold when serving for the set.
Alcaraz, who is on a 20-match winning streak in Spanish clay-court events, is locked at 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Struff. The German is the first lucky loser to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final since the series started in 1990 and is aiming to become just the fourth player and first in more than 20 years to win his first tour-level trophy at an ATP Masters 1000.
Struff, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas and avenged his qualifying loss against Aslan Karatsev en route to his second tour-level final, is currently No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. If he can turn the tables against top seed Alcaraz and earn his sixth Top 5 win, he will rise to No. 21.