Carlos Alcaraz Stuns Novak Djokovic at Madrid Open After Ousting Rafael Nadal

The legend of Carlos Alcaraz continued to grow Saturday as the 19-year-old tennis superstar defeated Novak Djokovic in a three-set thriller at the Madrid Open.

Alcaraz, who also beat Rafael Nadal in three sets to meet Djokovic in the semifinals, earned a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over the world's top-ranked men's tennis player.

Alcaraz, who is No. 9 in the ATP rankings, will face the winner of the Alexander Zverev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas matchup in the finals.

Alcaraz has enjoyed a tremendous 2022 season that includes titles at the Rio Open, Miami Open and Barcelona Open. He also reached the semifinals at Indian Wells but fell to Nadal in three sets.

However, Alcaraz then beat Nadal 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to match up with Djokovic. In beating the latter player, Alcaraz made history:

It took nearly four hours for the Alcaraz-Djokovic match to end, but this baseline winner earned the Spaniard the victory.

Alcaraz spoke about what beating the World No. 1 meant for him after the match:

He'll also be among the top six in the ATP rankings on Monday. One year ago, Alcaraz was No. 120.

Now Alcaraz will head to the finals Sunday. He has faced both of his potential opponents before. Alcaraz is 3-0 against Tsitsipas (2-0 hard, 1-0 clay) and 0-2 versus Zverev (0-2 hard).