Birthday boy Alcaraz beats Coric to reach Madrid final

MADRID, (Reuters)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthdaybystormingintothe MadridOpenfinalwitha6-4 6-3victoryoverBornaCoric yesterdaytostayontrackfor hisfourthtitleoftheseason.

In Sunday’s title clash, thetop-seededSpaniardwill face off against qualifier Aslan Karatsev or lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff whoweretocontesttheother semi-finallaterintheday

“It means a lot to me, playing a final again here in Madrid.

It’s such a special place for me I have great memories since I came here to play Under-12s,”Alcaraz said “Last year it was amazing. I’ll enjoy the final and try to make all of Spain

- happy Idon’tthinkaboutthe pressure here. I just think about playing great matches and getting good results. I enjoy every single second here.”Alcarazhasenjoyeda spectacular start to his career, becoming the youngest man to top the worldrankingsafterhisU.S. OpenwinlastSeptemberand has already claimed three Masters 1000 titles as a teenager

He took a big step towards another Masters crown and stamped his credentials as one of the favourites for this month’s French Open on a warm afternoon at the Manolo Santana Stadium with sixtimes Roland Garros champion Bjorn Borg watchingon.

World number two Alcaraz heaped the pressure on Coric in their first career meeting and faced stiff resistance from the Croatian 17th seed before drawing first blood with a searing forehandinthefifthgameof aphysicalopeningset.

After wrapping up the first set on serve, Alcaraz grabbed an early break and raced to a 4-2 lead in the next, dictating terms against afadingCoric.

He swiftly wrapped up his 28th win in 30 matches this year and celebrated by cutting a massive cake on court.

Russia’s Karatsev later playsGermanStruff10days after easing past him in the finalroundofqualifying.

Struff was added to the