Carlos Alcaraz battles past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach 2023 Barcelona Open semi-finals

Carlos Alcaraz moved into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open after downing fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(7-5) 6-4 on Friday afternoon.

Alcaraz was playing his second Spaniard in a row after defeating the veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in the previous round, while Davidovich Fokina had overcome Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in his last match-up.

The 19-year-old world No. 2 was aiming to retain a Tour title for the first time after winning the event last year in his breakout campaign.

The pair were evenly matched in the first set and it took a tie-break to separate them as Alcaraz took the lead.

Both players struggled to dominate with their serves, with just two aces shared evenly between them.

In another of the day’s quarter-finals, Alex de Minaur was beaten by second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the Australian beset by problems with his serve, double-faulting five times as the Greek won 6-4 6-2.

There were only three quarter-finals played in Spain on Friday, with Francisco Cerundolo losing to Britain’s Dan Evans in the evening. The Argentine took the first set 6-2 but the 12th seed showed his resilience to secure the second 7-5, before overcoming his opponent 6-3 in the decisive third.

An all-Italian tie had been scheduled for Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner, but the 21-year-old Sinner had to withdraw with injury, allowing his compatriot through to the semi-finals.

Musetti will play Tsitsipas on Saturday lunchtime, with Alcaraz to play Evans.

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