High seed Carlos Alcaraz booked his place within the Barcelona Open last after finishing a straight-sets victory over France’s Arthur Fils within the semi-finals.
The Spaniard beat 14th seed Fils 6-2 6-4 and can now play Holger Rune for the title after he dispatched Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-2 on the outside clay.
Alcaraz has a 2-1 report in opposition to Rune, final defeating the Dane at Wimbledon in 2023, however the pair are but to satisfy on clay.
Alcaraz, who received his first Monte-Carlo Masters title final weekend, is trying to find his third title of the 12 months on residence soil and nineteenth of his profession, and has a constructive report on the Barcelona Open, having received it in 2022 and 2023.
“Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final,” Alcaraz stated.
“I played twice here, so being in a final here in Barcelona again means a lot. It’s been a really fun and great week, and let’s see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy.”
Zverev eyes third Munich title
High seed Alexander Zverev hit 9 aces as he defeated Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to arrange a Munich Open last showdown with American Ben Shelton.
The world No 3 shall be trying to acquire his twenty fourth profession title and his third on residence turf which may see him degree Philipp Kohlschreiber’s haul of three Munich titles.
“It’s awesome, the entire week has been amazing,” stated Zverev.
“I lost focus once in the first set on my serve, but apart from that, I thought it was a good match. I thought Fabian played extremely well, and I’m just happy to be in the final.”
Second seed Shelton secured a 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo to ebook his spot within the last.
“To get a win on clay against a guy like that gives me a lot of confidence, and to be in an (ATP) 500 final over here in Europe, I’m really happy,” Shelton stated.
“I’ve been playing well here, I love the energy here in Munich, and I’m going to go for that title.”
Ostapenko maintains unbeaten report in opposition to Swiatek
Jelena Ostapenko maintained her unbelievable unbeaten report in opposition to Iga Swiatek with a victory within the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
The Pole should have hoped a primary conflict on her favoured clay would assist her finish her hoodoo in opposition to Ostapenko, however as a substitute the big-hitting Latvian prolonged her head-to-head benefit to 6-0.
Swiatek, champion in Germany in 2022 and 2023, fought again after dropping the opening set, however Ostapenko pulled away within the decider to win 6-3 3-6 6-2.
“The main thing for me is just to stay aggressive when I play against her,” stated Ostapenko. “I know that I will have chances. I’m really happy to be in the semi-finals.”
Within the final 4, the previous French Open champion will face Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, who thumped in-form third seed Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-4.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is bidding for her first title in Stuttgart after dropping within the last three years in a row, and she is going to fancy her probabilities of ending that run after easing to a 6-4 6-1 win over Elise Mertens.
Her semi-final opponent shall be fifth seed Jasmine Paolini, who produced a high quality show to defeat Coco Gauff 6-4 6-3.
In the meantime, within the Rouen Open, No 3 seed Olga Danilovic beat Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens 6-4, 6-4 to succeed in the ultimate on the Kindarena.
Danilovic will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina within the last after she defeated Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-0 6-2 within the semi-finals.
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