Alcaraz sets up Hamburg Open final against Musetti; breaks into world’s top 5

Carlos Alcaraz beats Alex Molcan in straight sets to advance to his fifth final of the season

Carlos Alcaraz at the Hamburg Open, 2022 Image Credit: Imago/ Panoramic

July 23, 2022

Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz will break into the top 5 of the world rankings on Monday after reaching his fifth final of the season at the Hamburg Open on Saturday.

The top-seeded Alcaraz defeated Slovak Alex Molcan 7-6 (2), 6-1 in one hour and 33 minutes at Am Rothenbaum to set up a final showdown against Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Sunday.

Bringing out the best in each other 🤩

Alcaraz and Molcan providing some high quality stuff @hamburgopen! pic.twitter.com/k22yTKy4cY
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 23, 2022

After dropping the first set of his opening match in Hamburg to German wildcard Nicola Kuhn, Alcaraz has now won eight sets in a row (beating Kuhn 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (4), 6-3 and Karen Khachanov 6-0, 6-2).

Alcaraz has a perfect record in ATP finals

The Spaniard is 5-0 in previous ATP finals ut Musetti, who defeated Francisco Cerundolo: 6-3, 7-6 (3), will be competing in his first career ATP singles final.

Alcaraz has already won four titles in 2022 – including his first two ATP Masters titles in Miami and Madrid, as well as titles in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

While Sunday’s clash will be the first ATP level meeting between the two youngsters, they have played once before on the ATP Challenger Tour level with the Spaniard winning their semi-final clash in Trieste, Italy in 2020.

If Alcaraz wins the title, he could climb as high as No 4 in the world rankings on Monday while Musetti is projected to break into the top 40, irrespective of the result.

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