Carlos Alcaraz eased to the ATP NextGen Finals title on Saturday with a straight-sets 4-3 (5), 4-2, 4-2 win over Sebastian Korda.
Top seed Alcaraz, 18, showed why he is one of the most highly-rated young players in men’s tennis by dominating American Korda, who was seeded second, in one hour and 22 minutes on the hard court in Milan.
“It feels amazing, to be able to win this tournament means a lot of me... I’m so excited right now,” Alcaraz said on court. “I’ve surprised myself with the level that I’m playing on indoor courts.”
Korda is three years Alcaraz’s senior and also came into the final unbeaten in the tournament for the year’s best young players but was no match for the Spaniard, who pulled off some stunning shots to claim the win.
“It’s been an incredible year for me, so many new things next year,” said Korda.
“A couple of days of rest and then back to work so I can go one step better.”
Alcaraz saved five break points as the first set went to a tie-break, which he looked set to lose when he trailed 5-4 having lost two service points. However the world number 32 roared back to take the set with three straight points which won him the tie-break 7-5.
The match turned definitively in his favour in game five of the second set, when after both players twice held their serve – with Alcaraz pulling off some laser-guided shots – Korda cracked and shot wide at break point.
That allowed Alcaraz to comfortably serve out the set, crashing home a thumping ace to assert his dominance, and soon after he made sure of the win.
After saving break point in the second game of set three, Alcaraz showed Korda no mercy to take the following two games, leaving him with the simple task of serving out the match.