By Ricky Dimon
Everyone at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell worked double duty on Saturday because of rain early in the week.
Carlos Alcaraz tripled his success against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Alcaraz improved to 3-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series by beating the Greek 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the Barcelona quarterfinals. The Spaniard won previous matchups at the 2020 U.S. Open (in five sets) and at the Miami Masters a few weeks ago (7-5, 6-3).
“(It was) probably my biggest win on clay court,” Alcaraz said afterward. “It was unbelievable; unbelievable game that I played; unbelievable atmosphere that I lived today on court. It was unbelievable everything. The atmosphere here, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was incredible.
“I think I beat the (tournament) favorite,” the 18-year-old added. “I’m playing an incredible level and I think that I’m ready to get the title.”
Alcaraz has every reason to be confident. The current world No. 11 won the biggest title of his career in Miami, already has a 500-level clay-court title under his belt (Rio de Janeiro in February), and he is more rested than some other Barcelona competitors after losing early in Monte-Carlo. Alcaraz will crack the top 10 for this first time on Monday even if he does not advance any farther this week.
Alex de Minaur is next to stand in Alcaraz’s way, while Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta are potential final opponents. De Minaur defeated Lloyd Harris and Cameron Norrie on Friday. Schwartzman battled past Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime, while Carreno Busta beat Lorenzo Sonego and then saved three match points in a quarterfinal thriller against No. 2 seed Casper Ruud.
Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between Alcaraz and de Minaur.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.