Alcaraz and Sabalenka shine but women players feel overshadowed in Madrid

F rom the moment Carlos Alcaraz took his first steps inside Madrid’s Caja Mágica this year, the level of expectations and attention resting on his shoulders was immense. His achievements as a teenager had already commanded so much attention, but in the absence of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic he was, on home soil, the show.

Throughout the fortnight at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz could not train without lines of spectators surrounding his court, who also demanded lengthy autograph sessions of him each time he walked from the practice courts to the locker room. The stadium was filled for every match he played and with an array of Spanish athletes and celebrities who waited afterwards for photographs with him outside the player lounge.

For many other players the unwavering attention would have been crippling, but in regards to Alcaraz it never seemed the title would go to anyone else. It was the lower ranked players, Emil Ruusuvuori and Jan-Lennard Struff, who startled him the most. Both times he showed his growing maturity by making the necessary adjustments to win.

Alcaraz faced four seeds and three top-20 players, Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric and Karen Khachanov, and he dismantled each one in straight sets. He dominated from the baseline off both wings, peppering opponents with drop shots and incessantly closing down the net. Alcaraz’s bag is so deep; he can win points in so many more ways than anyone but Nadal and Djokovic, and he has an innate understanding of how best to use his skillset.

This is no longer the free swinging, nothing-to-lose period of Alcaraz’s career. Every week brings another enormous result to defend and the 20-year-old is still only a few months removed from a three-month injury layoff that