Alcaraz Survives Inspired De Minaur To Win His 13th Consecutive Barcelona Match

Carlos Alcaraz simply loves playing at the Barcelona Open, and his results in the city only prove that.

In the history of the Barcelona Open, there is one man who was more successful than anyone who has ever stepped onto the red dirt in Catalonia. Rafael Nadal won 12 titles in Barcelona, including five consecutive, which is also one of the reasons why the main court at the Barcelona Open is called Pista Rafa Nadal.

The legendary Spaniard had the court named after him already during his playing days, and after his retirement, there is another Spaniard who delights the crowd in Barcelona every year.

Alcaraz won the 2022 edition of the tournament, and he lifted the trophy in Barcelona also in 2023. Last year, the youngster, unfortunately, couldn't compete in Barcelona, but he's back at the ATP 500 event again, delighting the Spanish fans once more.

The 21-year-old didn't have too many issues in his first two matches, but his quarter-final opponent, Alex de Minaur, was a proper challenge for the two-time champion.

De Minaur has improved on clay significantly in recent months, and that also showed in this match. The Australian was the first player to break in this match, leading 3-1 early on.

The home crowd favorite was then able to break back, but De Minaur, who has Spanish roots, broke again to lead 4-3 in the opening set of the match. But every time the Australian increased his level, his opponent was able to increase it even further.

Alcaraz stayed in the match by leveling the score at 5-5, and leading 6-5, the Spaniard was able to put his opponent against the wall, creating two set-point chances. The ATP World No. 2 used the second one, winning the first set 7-5.

With his confidence boosted after winning the opening set, Alcaraz had a break point already at the start of the second set of this match. However, De Minaur saved it, and the score stayed close.

But that was only until the sixth game of the second set when the top seed led 3-2. Alcaraz created two more break chances, this time converting the second one to lead 4-2 in the set.

The four-time Grand Slam champion then controlled the remainder of the set, winning the match 7-5, 6-3, with what was arguably his best performance of the week, considering the level that De Minaur was able to bring.

In the semi-finals of the tournament, Alcaraz will play against Arthur Fils, who had to play only two games against Stefanos Tsitsipas before the Greek player retired.

Alcaraz and Fils met recently in the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, and the Spaniard praised his opponent after winning the match in three sets.