𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Carlos Alcaraz extended his winning run at the Barcelona Open to 14 matches with a comfortable victory over Arthur Fils in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz had to come from a set down to defeat the young Frenchman on his way to the title in Monte Carlo last week but this was a more straightforward outing as he eased to a 6-2 6-4 victory.

The Spaniard lifted the trophy in Catalonia in 2022 and 2023 before missing last year’s tournament through injury.

Alcaraz remains some distance behind Jannik Sinner in the battle for the world number one ranking but has at least closed the gap over the last couple of weeks.

“Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final,” said Alcaraz.

“I played twice here so being in a final here in Barcelona again means a lot. In front of my people, my friends who came from Murcia, and of course the people here in Barcelona. It’s been a really fun and great week, and let’s see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy.”

In the final he will take on sixth seed Holger Rune, who continued his strong week with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Karen Khachanov.

Danish sixth seed Rune dispatched Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-2 in the other semi-final earlier on Saturday to advance to his second final at ATP 500 level. In the quarter-finals, Rune eliminated defending champion Casper Ruud.

The trophy decider at the BMW Open in Munich will be a battle of the top seeds after home hope Alexander Zverev and American Ben Shelton both won.

Top seed Zverev, who is looking for his first title of the season, defeated Fabian Marozsan 7-6 (3) 6-3 while Shelton battled to a 2-6 7-6 (7) 6-4 win against Francisco Cerundolo.

The 22-year-old is the first American man to reach a clay-court final above ATP 250 level, the lowest rung of the tour, since Andre Agassi back in 2002.

PA