Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero gave a bit of a motivational and inspirational speech to Carlos Alcaraz before the Barcelona Open final and it worked as the 18-year-old destroyed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-2 to win his third title of the year.
Alcaraz started his Barcelona semifinal match versus Alex de Minaur on Saturday but the match was suspended due to rain after just a few games played.
At 11am on Sunday, Alcaraz and de Minaur continued their match and Alcaraz won 6-7 (4) 7-6 (4) 6-4 after three hours and 43 minutes of play.
A few hours later, Alcaraz returned to the court and dominated Carreno Busta.
“It was a tournament with good tennis, consistent and a bit inconsistent too. Carlos’ virtue is that he can play badly but in the end he can get away with it. It’s quite rare on the tour that two matches are played on the same day. This morning, we had a very tense match. It was not easy playing against Pablo, but he overcame everything, he found strength where he had none. I told him that he had to play the final, and that the fatigue was something mental, that you had to put in a lot of effort, a lot of enthusiasm and I think he did it,” Ferrero explained, per We Love Tennis.
Alcaraz fulfills a childhood dream
Last week, Alcaraz admitted he dreamed of day playing on Pista Rafa Nadal in Barcelona.
Alcaraz got a chance to play the Nadal court in Barcelona and he also achieved another dream – winning it all at the tournament.
“It means a lot. I’ve watched this tournament since I was a kid. I always wished to play in this tournament and, of course, to be able to win this tournament. So I’m really, really happy to be part of the Spanish history list,” Alcaraz said.
Following his Barcelona victory, Alcaraz rose to a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world.