Barcelona Open: Alcaraz moves into final

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, won against No 12 seed Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-2 to move into the final of the Barcelona Open at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on Saturday.

Alcaraz, ranked No 2, will face Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed, for the crown.

He continues his quest to defend his title, and maintains an excellent record this week of no sets dropped.

This will be his fourth ATP Tour final of the year, and on Sunday he will seek his sixth title on clay of his career so far.

If he defends his title, it will be the first time he has done so, and will be the first repeat Barcelona champion since Rafael Nadal won three in a row between 2016 and 2018.

Alcaraz: I feel really comfortable here

“I feel really comfortable playing here in Barcelona and [I am] playing well,” said Alcaraz. “Stefanos as well is playing great matches. Last year we had a spicy match, let’s say. I know he’s a really nice guy off the court, so I’m going to try to forget everything that has happened in the matches before, try to focus on my game tomorrow, and try to get the win.”

Ahead of his victory, the 19-year-old Spaniard beat Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-3, 6-1), No 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut (6-3, 7-5) and No 10 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (7-6 (5), 6-4).

Evans, ranked No 26, defeated Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi (6-4, 6-3), Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 6 seed (6-3, 6-4) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 15 seed (2-6, 7-5, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Barcelona tournament.

Barcelona ATP500, other semi-final result (Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, clay, EUR 2.722.480):

• Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Lorenzo Musetti (9): 6-4, 5-7, 6-3