The winner of the last two editions of the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, the last finalist at Roland Garros, the double runner-up of this Count of Godó, number five in the world, left the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona headquarters in despair, on the court

Rafael Nadal

, for an unstoppable hurricane.

Not even trickery saved

Stefanos Tsitsipas

from a new defeat against

Carlos Alcaraz

, who won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, in two hours and 12 minutes, and will seek

his first final this Saturday against

Alex de Miñaur

of the Count of Godó.

Pablo Carreño

and

Diego Schwartzman

will play from 1:30 p.m.

(Teledeporte) the first semi-final.

Cameron Norrie

's Defeat

against De Miñaur guarantees Alcaraz enter the

top ten

from Monday.

On an intense Friday, where he beat

Jaume Munar

in the round of 16 early in the afternoon, the Murcian once again asserted himself as the tennis player of the moment.

It could have been even worse for the Greek, who was being overwhelmed and lost 4-1 in the second set when he starred in a reaction facilitated by the momentum of the Spaniard, who, almost in a trance, got carried away by the connection with the fans and fell into the precipitation.

He adjusted Tsitsipas's hand and prolonged the fight, but he paid for the enormous effort made.

Already 3-0 down in the third quarter, he decided to leave the court to go to the service and exceeded the time allowed by the regulations, which cost him the penalty of two points.

He got into an argument with the judge, a sign of impotence.

With only three crosses, this match begins to become a classic.

Alcaraz and Tsitsipas met for the first time in the third round of the last US Open, in the match that marked the real breakout of the Murcian among the elite.

He recently beat him again in Miami, on the way to being crowned with his first Masters 1000. Last night, at an unexpected hour, after the tribute to

Marc López

in his farewell from the competition, the winners of the last two Masters 1000 met again, this time in clay.

public delivered

The match was developed by canons unrelated to this surface, with both players defining with their respective services, without long exchanges, until the Spaniard broke in the ninth game, taking advantage of his opponent's hesitation with the serve.

He converted it thanks to a drop shot, to the delight of an audience dedicated to the kid.

He then defended his serve to white.

Desperate, the double finalist of the tournament threw the ball in his face in front of a climb to the net.

To Alcaraz's look of indignation was added the reproach from the stands, which affected the Hellenic reaction.

The Spaniard intelligently hurt the one-handed backhand of the double finalist of the tournament, the man who in 2021 had two match points in the final against Nadal.

There was no respite for Tsitsipas, who as soon as he served with seconds found winning returns, like the one that caused the new break in the third game of the second set.

Everything seemed on track when the Spanish braked too much.

He was two games away from a comfortable, landslide victory, and he made several poor decisions.

He brought Tsitsipas back to life, but he paid a high price for the enormous effort to restore equality to the match.

At 18, Alcaraz showed that he knows how to manage situations as delicate as this one.

Far from collapsing, he went to the locker room, reset and returned to the court with enough temper to finish his job.

It's clear that the early loss in Monte Carlo to

Sebastian Korda

was an inconsequential stumble.

There is no bigger favorite to win in Barcelona.

Carreno Marathon

Pablo Carreño's marathon day, who spent five hours and 44 minutes on the track.

First, he beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the round of 16, in two hours and 42 minutes, and a few hours later he saved three match points against Casper Ruud, second-seeded, to win by 4-6, 7-6 (8) and 6-3, in three hours and two minutes.

The Norwegian had defeated the Spanish in the two previous duels.

Carreño applauded the public that helped him survive against the last finalist in the Miami Masters 1000.

He ended up exhausted, almost without the strength to walk to the net to shake hands with his opponent.

"It was very complicated, but that's what playing at home has to do with it.

The public has been with me at key moments and has given me the plus I needed to see myself strong when I was down.

You play tennis for moments like this », he said at the foot of the court.

Carreño dominates by 2-1 the face to face with Schwartzman, whom he defeated last year in the quarterfinals of this same tournament.

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