Carlos Alcaraz storms into Barcelona final to close in on third straight title

Alcaraz extended his winning run at the Barcelona Open to a hugely impressive 14 matches with a comfortable victory over Arthur Fils in the semi-finals in front an enthusiastic Barcelona crowd, wrapping up a 6-2 6-4 result in quick time.

"The first thing we have to be grateful for is the sun," Alcaraz said, after a week of less-than-warm conditions in Barcelona.

"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.

"Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final. 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 a really fun and great week, and let's see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy."

Alcaraz remains some distance behind Jannik Sinner in the battle for the world No 1 ranking, but he returned to the No 2 ranking after his Monte Carlo Masters win last week.

Now he could be one defeat away from losing that ranking, as he needs to beat an in-form Holger Rune in Sunday's final to hold onto his current position.

Alexander Zverev has been struggling for form throughout 2025 but has battled his way through to the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Munich this week and will overtake Alcaraz in the rankings if he wins his final against Ben Shelton and Rune wins in Barcelona.

"It's awesome, the entire week has been amazing," said Zverev after his 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 semi-final win over Fabian Marozsan. "The spectators have been really enjoying the weather, the new centre court and the new tournament. I'm enjoying it myself and hopefully I can have another great day tomorrow.

"I thought I played quite a good match. I lost focus once in the first set on my serve, but apart from that I thought it was a good match. I thought Fabian played extremely well and I'm just happy to be in the final."

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