There is no story in the second semifinal of the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. In the Spanish tournament, Carlos Alcaraz gives himself the chance to take the last step towards defending his title, beating the Briton Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets.
A challenge that didn’t give any particular ideas, if not that of the home player’s dominance, who easily took a break when he decided to accelerate: in the first set, Evans lost two rounds of service collecting only one point in these two games .
A photocopy of the second set, with Alcaraz taking up 5-2 and the British’s serve making it 40-15: he made no mistake at the first match point, giving himself the second consecutive final in the Catalan city, where he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek defeated in three sets Lorenzo Musetti, reaching the final of the Spanish event
Below the semifinals highlights:
What is happening in Munich and Banja Luka
In Munich, however, there is something incredible: the 2023 final will be the same as that of 2022. Holger Rune beats Christopher O’Connell in straight sets, with a 6-3, 6-2, which lasted an hour and twenty minutes of play.
In the other semifinal, the twist. Botic Van de Zandschulp defeated the tournament’s number one seed Taylor Fritz in straight sets, thanks to the result of 6-4, 7-6. The American has yet to find the right familiarity with the European red clay, especially the slow German one, due to climatic conditions; the Dutch took advantage of this, and after a year the Dane finds himself. This time, however, Rune comes to us fresh from a 1000-level final in Monte Carlo.
In Banja Luka, another title defense on the road. Andrey Rublev returns to the final after his victory at the Serbian Open last year, beating Alex Molcano 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Here he will face Dusan Lajovic: Novak Djokovic’s avenger in the quarterfinals beats Miomir Kecmanovic in the other semifinal in the all-Serbian derby with the result of 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, in a comeback that lasted just three hours of play.