The top seed, Carlos Alcaraz, eased past Arthur Fils to reach the final of the Barcelona Open where he hopes to pick up the title for a third time and retain his place as world No.2.
It wasn’t about playing fantastic tennis, brilliant shots… It was about making the shots you have to do, no more than that Carlos Alcaraz
He made light work of the tricky conditions and the Frenchman’s powerful hitting to secure a 6-2 6-4 victory in just 76 minutes and extend his winning run in Barcelona to nine matches.
“The first thing we have to be grateful for is the sun,” Alcaraz said with a smile when asked of the conditions. “The sun was out, it wasn’t raining. There was [however] a lot of wind today, so I had to survive. It wasn’t about playing fantastic tennis, brilliant shots… It was about making the shots you have to do, no more than that.”
In some ways, it was a masterclass by the Spaniard as he blunted Fils’ main weapon, namely his powerful groundstrokes, targeting the backhand and varying his own shots to keep his opponent off balance.
Alcaraz, who won back-to-back titles in Barcelona in 2022-23, will aim to complete his hat-trick against Holger Rune, after the Dane also made light work of his semi-final opponent, Russia’s Karen Khachanov, 6-3 6-4 in 67 minutes.
“Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final,” added Alcaraz. “I played twice here, so being in a final here in Barcelona again means a lot. In front of my people, my friends who came from Murcia, and of course the people here in Barcelona. It’s been really fun and a great week, and let’s see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy.”
Holger Rune is on a strong run
(Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
For the sixth-seeded Rune, the final is his second of the season and lifts his ranking some four places back into the top ten. He was forced to retire in Monte Carlo with food poisoning but shows no signs of any lingering discomfort.
Commenting on his return to the top ten, Rune said: “In the beginning of the week, it’s not really something I think about. For me, it’s [technically] the first tournament on clay [in 2025]. I told myself: ‘Let’s use it as a training week to build.’ But now it’s not really a training week, it’s become a very good week. I’m super happy to be in the final and back in the Top 10 in the Live Rankings, it feels good.”
And on his match with the Russian, he added: “I was playing very well from the back of the court, and mixing up the pace very well. He’s very good from the serve, [using] his forehand and backhand. So I tried to make it difficult for him by mixing it up with drop shots, slices, and high balls. It’s all a balance, but I’m happy with how I handled it today.”
It should be a fascinating final with the two 21-year-olds testing themselves against each other with their aggressive approach to the game. Both are showing great tactical awareness, and it will come down to which one can establish themselves on the other the quicker!
