Hey Jude! Carlos Alcaraz earns support from Real Madrid star Bellingham

By Sports Desk September 07, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz paid tribute to new Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham following his quarter-final victory at the US Open.

The defending champion spread his arms wide, mimicking England midfielder Bellingham’s goal celebration, after beating Alexander Zverev in straight sets on Wednesday night.

Alcaraz posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, captioned “Hey Jude!”, and tagged Bellingham.

His fellow 20-year-old responded on Thursday morning, writing: “Que maquina! (What a machine) Keep going mate.”

Alcaraz is a fan of Real and spoke earlier in the tournament about his admiration for Bellingham, who has hit the ground running in LaLiga with five goals in his first four games.

“I’m really happy to watch him play at Real Madrid,” said Alcaraz. “He’s such a great, talented player, one of the best in the world.

“I’m sure that he’s going to be the best player in the world in that position. I’m just really, really happy to have him in the team. I talk a little bit with him. He’s such a great person, as well.”

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    He is just the fifth player aged 23 or under to reach that mark in back-to-back seasons since 1973, after legendary quartet Bjorn Borg (1977-79), Ivan Lendl (1980-82), Pete Sampras (1993-94) and Rafael Nadal (2008-09)

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    England superstar Bellingham scored 23 times for Madrid in all competitions in the 2023-24 season, his first with the club.

    But prior to their 4-0 win over Osasuna in LaLiga on Saturday, he was yet to get off the mark for this campaign.

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    The 21-year-old has played 1,118 minutes this term, having netted every 158 minutes in his debut Madrid campaign.

    Bellingham has not underperformed against his expected goals total across a season since marginally doing so for Borussia Dortmund in 2020-21, but his sole goal in 2024-25 has come from chances worth 3.1 xG.

    His shot conversion rate of 4.35% is comfortably a new low at Dortmund or Madrid, too.

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