Barcelona Open: Alcaraz powers past de Minaur in quarters

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz extended his perfect record against Alex de Minaur with a straight-sets victory at the Barcelona Open on Friday, winning 7-5, 6-3 to book a spot in the semifinals of the ATP 500 event.

Entering the match as a -500 favorite at Nags.bet, Alcaraz recovered from an early 3-1 deficit to break the Australian four times across 92 minutes and improve his head-to-head against the world No.11 to 4-0.

Alcaraz admitted he struggled early but was proud of how he turned things around.

“I started quite badly with the serve, I was struggling a little bit mentally with it,” he said.

“It was just the first few games with my serve, then I think I improved a lot. I calmed myself down and started to think positively again.

“Alex started strong, playing aggressively, and the first set was really tight.”

The result shortens Alcaraz’s odds to -188.68 across tennis betting sites to win the title, having won seven straight matches since his triumph at the Monte-Carlo Masters last week.

In the other side of the draw, Holger Rune posted a breakthrough win over Casper Ruud, defeating the Norwegian for the first time in two years.

Rune entered the match as a +138 underdog but turned in one of his most complete performances of the season to win a tense quarterfinal battle.

“It means a lot, it was a really good match today,” Rune said.

“I was hitting through my groundstrokes and feeling good. I played the right way and I’m very happy I was able to finish it.

“He made it difficult, he’s a great player. I think I played on my terms and I was really explosive, this is how I want to play.”

Rune now faces Karen Khachanov, a +160 outsider at the top online sportsbooks, in the semifinals. The Russian edged past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-5, 7-5 to reach his first ATP 500 semifinal of the year.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz will face Arthur Fils in the other semifinal. The Frenchman advanced after Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire just three games into their clash.

Alcaraz defeated Fils in three sets in Monte-Carlo last week and is priced at -333.33 with Nags.bet to do the job again.

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