Alcaraz saves two match points against De Miñaur and will play the final against Carreño

If Carlos Alcaraz lacked something in his intrepid professional biography, it was a victory like the one achieved in the semifinals of the Conde de Godó, a victory coming from the edge of the abyss

.

It was only the semi-final, but the match against Alex de Miñaur had all the components of a direct fight for the title.

The Spaniard, uncomfortable in the first two sets, overcome by the commendable work of his opponent, raised two match points to the rest, with 40-15 and 6-5 down in the second set, and put the letterhead of those who also know how to fight to the limit for survival.

.

It will be the twelfth Spanish final in this tournament.

"A miracle, but I have saved match balls, one of them making a

that I don't even know how I got it out. You have to give everything until the last ball because everything can change," he said on Teledeporte at the foot of the track.

With no hint of capitulation on the other side of the court, Alcaraz, who pulled off a 20-minute game in the opening break of the final set, knew how to clench his jaw and show his best as the match took on a gritty profile.

, in the season of his emergence and after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, recent champion in Monte Carlo, in the quarterfinals for the third time .

The Australian never lost face in the game.

He even came back from 3-1 down in the third set and took a 4-3 lead.

With his clear ideas, he explained what he considered necessary, pressing every second serve of his rival and not letting him take the initiative, showing himself very accurate to the rest.

It was he who, inside the track, dictated the rules by which the confrontation was governed.

Number 25 in the world, the tennis player from Sydney has seen his progression delayed due to injuries.

It was his first semifinal in a tournament on clay, but he showed adaptability, intelligence and combativeness.

Difficult moments

"I'm not going in the head", Alcaraz could be heard after crashing a simple volley, which he could approach in another way, against the net and offer his rival two other set points in the tiebreaker of the first set, after the two that already had before coming to him.

Vague, hasty, Alcaraz ran into serious difficulties.

De Miñaur made the most of the errors and took the first set.

With five titles, four on hard and one on grass, the 23-year-old from Sydney has long been the staunchest hope of undervalued Australian tennis.

Alcaraz resisted the breaking ball.

He was not able to convert any of the first eight he had, three of them with a 0-40 to lead 4-2 and serve in the second set.

"I already know that I have to improve. I'm not going to play like that," he monologued out loud.

It was already in a very delicate situation, 5-4 down in the second, when, in the ninth, he got his goal.

It was not going to be enough to avoid the dangers that would follow.

Unfailing, De Miñaur broke again in the eleventh, a game that began with an argument between the Spaniard and the chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes, who went to Foxtenn to review a ball.

De Miñaur won the game and had two match points, both neutralized by the Spaniard, who made a good response in the tiebreaker.

The third set was a continuation of the formidable battle.

In a very demanding day, with the four semifinalists forced to play two games if they wanted to win the title due to the rain suspension on Saturday, Alcaraz finished the job with a great right down the line.

Champion in Rio and Miami, in the tournament where he has risen to the

, he showed a new notch in his revolver and won a match that at times was almost impossible for him.

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