World number 2 Carlos Alcaraz beat seventh seed Arthur Fils 6-2 6-4 after 1 hour and 15 minutes in a re-match of the Monte-Carlo quarter finals to reach his third final at the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell. Alcaraz is aiming to win his third title in Barcelona after winning this tournament in 2022 and 2023.
Alcaraz saved the only break point he face to extend his winning streak to nine consecutive matches.
Alcaraz beat Fils for the second time in as as many weeks after his 4-6 7-5 6-3 win in Monte-Carlo last week.
Alcaraz dropped 14 points in nine service games and saved the only break point he faced. The Spaniard hit 12 winners to 14 unforced errors.
Fils lost 45% of the points in his service games and was broken three times.
Fils won his first service game with a powerful backhand. The Frenchman faced a break point after netting a backhand in the third game. Alcaraz earned his first break after Fils made a double fault to take a 2-1 lead.
Alcaraz held serve at deuce with a forehand winner in the fourth game for 3-1.
Alcaraz went up a double break to open up a 4-1 after Fils made a double fault.
Fils earned his only break point in the sixtb game. Alcaraz saved it to hold serve for 5-1. The four-time Grand Slam champion served for the first set and closed it out with a service winner after 39 minutes.
Fils saved two break points in the first game of the second set. Alcaraz held serve in the second game with a service winner before earning two break points after Fils made a backhand error in the third game. The Spanish player converted his first break point when Fils missed a ball and consolidated the break with a hold at love with a service winner.
Alcaraz held serve in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead. Fils held serve at 30 in the seventh game. Alcaraz Alcaraz hit a drop shot winner to hold serve for 5-3.
Fils served to stay in the match in the ninth game and held serve after two deuces. Alcaraz missed two match points at 5-4, as he was serving for the match at 5-4. He converted his third match point with a forehand winner after 76 minutes to extend his winning streak to nine consecutive matches.
Alcaraz set up a final against Holger Rune. The Spaniard is bidding for a back-to-back title after winning in Monte-Carlo last week.
“Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sunday’s watching the final. 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”, said Alcaraz.
