Carlos Alcaraz battled past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 5-7 6-2 after 2 hours and 12 minutes to reach his fourth semifinal of the season at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
Both players went on serve until 4-4 without any break points in the first set. Alcaraz brought up three break points at 0-40 in the ninth game and earned the decisive break with a drop shot before serving out the first set at love after 36 minutes. The Spaniard dropped just four points on serve and won 12 of the last 13 points in the first set.
Alcaraz broke serve with a backhand return winner in the third game of he second set. He consolidated the break with a drop shot winner in the fourth game and went up a set and a double break with a backhand winner to build a 6-4 4-1 lead in the second set. Tsitsipas clawed his way back in the match and won four consecutive games with two breaks in the sixth and eighth games to take a 5-4 lead. The Greek player sealed the second set 7-5 with a break in the 12th game.
Alcaraz earned a double break to race out to a 3-0 lead. Tsitsipas left the court for a toilet break and received two penalty points for an extended toilet break before the fourth game. Alcaraz closed the fourth game with two quick points.
Alcaraz moved ahead 5-1 with backhand winners and held at love with a service winner, as he was serving for the win at 5-2.
Alcaraz will break into the top 10 for the first time in career next week.
“Probably it was my biggest win on clay court. It was unbelievable. I played an unbelievable game. I lived an unbelievable atmosphere today on court. Everything was unbelievable. The atmosphere, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was unbelievable”, said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz set up a semifinal match against Alex De Minaur, who beat Cameron Norrie 6-3 5-7 6-1.
De Minaur broke twice to open up a 5-1 lead. Norrie pulled back one break in the seventh game, but De Minaur served out the first set with a hold at 15.
Both players traded breaks twice in the second set en route to 4-4. After two holds of serve Norrie sealed the second set with his third break.
De Minaur cruised through to a 6-1 win in the decider with three breaks of serve.
