Carlos Alcaraz also submits Casper Ruud and becomes the youngest champion of the tournament

It will be better to ration the adjectives, temper praise, attenuate the hyperbolic character of the story.

Not because the kid no longer deserves it, but because repeated occasions are presumed, surely of greater magnitude, to inflame the narration of his exploits.

Miami is just a way station.

And with that all is said.

beat

7-5, 6-4, in one hour and 52 minutes, to become the youngest winner of this Masters 1000, ahead of

, who won there, in 2007, with 19 years, the first of his 37 titles in this category.

He is also the youngest in this tournament status, after

and Nadal.

The 18-year-old Spaniard overcame his opponent's initial push and achieved the most important victory of a career that suggests unfathomable heights.

Winner last year of the ATP 250 in Umag and champion at the beginning of the season of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, he already has his first Masters 1000. Ruud was one more victim of this young man whom only

, in the third round of the Open of Australia, and

, in the semifinals of Indian Wells, have defeated him this season.

The Murcian will appear this Monday as number 11 in the world.

No Spaniard had won this tournament in the men's draw.

,

,

and Nadal were planted in the final

, this one up to five times.

Supported in the final match by his coach,

, who traveled expressly after not being able to be present in the previous matches due to the sudden death of his father,

, Alcaraz ended that negative sequence and completed another formidable tournament, in the who has surpassed, among others,

, world number five, and

, defending champion.

A growing rival

Five years older than Alcaraz, Ruud, sixth seed, trained in Nadal's academy, already has seven ATP titles, all of them small, but they speak of a good competitor, capable of reaching the semifinals of the ATP Finals in 2021, in his first participation.

This year he has won in Buenos Aires, to show later that we are not dealing with a mere clay specialist, but rather someone in full evolution, very capable of taking the initiative, as he showed at the beginning of the final.

The Spaniard was slow to find his place, perhaps surprised by the good work of a player whom he had easily beaten last year in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Marbella.

He got away from him on the scoreboard and when, coming back from 40-0, he created a ball to recover the lost serve in the fifth game, he made a bad decision by opting for the dropshot, which stayed in the net.

Yes, he took the next train, placing himself 3-4 and serving, already in a reaction that would not admit turning back.

Alcaraz had a hard time assuming a more pragmatic path.

The abuse of drop shots, with four losses out of six attempts, was a hindrance in the first set.

His game has a hedonistic component without which we would not be talking about the champion he is, a boy with enormous power of seduction, a lover of risk, who expresses the festive nature of sport.

It was like this, corrected after the slips, how he ended up getting the set, as far as the Norwegian's resistance came.

Alcaraz escaped like a fireball in the second.

Ruud emitted symptoms of capitulation, physically affected and with two lost serves, but he recovered one of the

and received attention from the physiotherapist on the shoulder.

The Spaniard was not going to hesitate, successfully managing his advantage and ending with a drop shot.

The boy who insultingly won the Junior ATP Finals at the end of last year has grown up at full speed, to the amazement of the entire world.

No one will be able to argue with him from now on being as favorite as the most in any tournament he plays.

He will be in Monte Carlo from the 10th. Even if Nadal, 11 times champion, played, he would have to be taken into account for everything.

With the southpaw absent, injured, and even with Djokovic's expected comeback, Charlie

is more than ready for the next adventure.

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