Alcaraz cuts birthday cake on court after Madrid Open semi-final victory

Carlos Alcaraz marked his 20th birthday with a sensational 6-4 6-3 victory over Borna Coric in the Madrid Open semi-finals. 

The Spanish defending champion will face lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff in Sunday's title clash. Alcaraz is aiming to clinch his fourth title of the season and prove himself as one of the favorites for the French Open this month. 

Bjorn Borg, the six-time Roland Garros champion, watched as Alcaraz took a significant step towards another Masters crown, sealing his 28th win in 30 matches this year.

Alcaraz, the youngest man to top the world rankings after his US Open win last September, expressed his delight at reaching the final in Madrid, saying, "I have great memories since I came here to play Under-12s". He added that he would "enjoy the final and try to make all of Spain happy".

Struff, who was added to the main draw after a late withdrawal, had an amazing run to the final, beating world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final. He then battled to a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over qualifier Aslan Karatsev in the other semi-final. The German will bid for his first ATP title in his second final, having lost the 2021 Munich final with no crowd due to COVID-19.

In the women's final, world number one Iga Swiatek will face Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. 

The Polish star, who won the French Open in 2020, reached her third WTA final of the season after beating eighth-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic 7-6(5) 6-0. Meanwhile, Sabalenka came from behind to beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3.