The Mutua Madrid Open has announced this Wednesday that Carlos Alcaraz will play this edition of 2021. The 17-year-old Spaniard will be one of the 56 players that will be part of the lineup of the ATP Masters 1000, from April 27 to May 9, after receiving one of the invitations reserved for the final draw.
“I wanted to thank the Mutua Madrid Open for giving me the opportunity to play at the Caja Mágica,” said Alcaraz. “It is a great experience for me to be able to play in Spain with all the people. I hope to do a good job there next May”.
The Murcian has started this season brilliantly, signing 3 victories in the 5 matches played on the Australian tour, as well as getting a ticket to the final draw of the Australian Open.
However, at Melbourne Park he won his first Grand Slam match, after beating the Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp in three sets.
One week before, at the ATP 250 in Melbourne, he achieved his biggest career win against world No. 14 David Goffin. In this way, he became the youngest player to defeat a Top 15 rival since Richard Gasquet beat Nicolás Massú (No. 14) in the quarterfinals of Buenos Aires in 2004, also 17 years old.
Coached by the 2003 Mutua Madrid Open champion and former number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, he has experienced a meteoric rise in just one year from the Top 500 to the top 100.
Last year he won the ATP Challenger of Trieste, Barcelona and Alicante, being the youngest three-time champion at 17 years and 5 months since 2003, precisely the year of his birth.
For all those merits, Alcaraz was awarded in 2020 as the Breakthrough of the year in the awards granted by the ATP at the end of each season. The Spaniard competed with other young talents such as Sebastian Korda, Lorenzo Musetti, Jurij Rodionov, Emil Ruusuvuori and Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Feliciano López, director of the Mutua Madrid Open, does not hide his admiration for the young Spanish talent.
“This invitation is a commitment to youth. It had been many years since I saw a Spanish player with that potential. Seeing such a young boy play like Carlos does is something very special, something unique. We are delighted to welcome him back to our tracks, six years after he did it in our U12 test.”
And it will not be the first time that the Murcian plays in the Magic Box. In 2015, at the age of 12, he was part of the sub-12 category tournament poster.
On the clay of Stadium 3 he has already shown his promising potential, by winning the trophy after defeating Alejandro Turriziaini 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-1 in the final.
Later they will be announced the rest of the invitations available for this Mutua Madrid Open 2021.