Carlos Alcaraz gets more unwanted comparisons as new Rafael Nadal points raised

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has talked up Carlos Alcaraz ahead of their Barcelona Open clash while Patrick Mouratoglou gave his insight.

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Tsitsipas Continues Barcelona Title Quest

Is this the week Stefanos Tsitsipas captures his first title of the season?

The Greek maintained his perfect record against Alex de Minaur on Friday when he overcame the Australian 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Tsitsipas was in control throughout the one-hour, 21-minute clash at the clay-court ATP 500, taking large cuts at the ball on the forehand to overpower De Minaur and improve to 9-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

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With his 19th win of the season, the second seed set a semi-final clash against Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The ninth seed Musetti received a walkover from Jannik Sinner earlier on Friday.

Tsitsipas holds fond memories in Barcelona, having advanced to the championship match in 2018 and 2021. The 24-year-old will rise to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin if he lifts his fifth clay-court tour-level trophy this week in Spain.

De Minaur was aiming to reach the semi-finals in Barcelona for the second consecutive year. The 24-year-old is 14-8 on the season, highlighted by his run to the title in Acapulco in February.

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Novak Djokovic makes promise to viral wonderkid dubbed 'world's strongest toddler'

Viral wonderkid Arat Hosseini caught Novak Djokovic's attention when he swapped football for tennis.

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Carlos Alcaraz missing out as Rafael Nadal's worrying injury update felt by rivals

Carlos Alcaraz has responded after Rafael Nadal gave a lengthy update on his injury layoff and withdrew from the Madrid Masters.

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Rafael Nadal at risk of missing first ever French Open as injured Spaniard in race vs time

Rafael Nadal provided a concerning injury update which sparked fears that he could be forced to miss the French Open for the first time ever.

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Tsitsipas Sinks Shapovalov In Barcelona

A two-time finalist at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Stefanos Tsitsipas moved a step closer to capturing his first title at the ATP 500 event on Thursday when he overcame 14th-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2.

In a heavy-hitting clash, the Greek demonstrated great footwork to dictate on his forehand. The second seed saved both break points he faced and hit his groundstrokes with weight on the Barcelona clay, successfully targeting Shapovalov’s backhand to improve to 2-3 in their ATP Head2Head series and reach the quarter-finals.

"I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline," Tsitsipas said. "Against Denis you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn't easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision making. It was a good day."

Tsitsipas is making his fifth appearance in Barcelona, with his best result runs to the final in 2018 and 2021. Chasing his first title of the season, he will next meet Alex de Minaur after the Australian received a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov.

With his 77-minute win, the World No. 5 moves to 18-5 on the season, highlighted by his run to the Australian Open final. Shapovalov started his clay-court season with a victory against Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik on Wednesday. The Canadian was aiming to reach his second quarter-final of the year, after advancing to the last eight in Adelaide in January.

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Earlier, Jannik Sinner survived a second-set dip to move past Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and reach his seventh quarter-final of the season.

After Sinner raced to a one-set lead, Nishioka’s variety started to cause problems for the Italian, who was pulled from corner to corner at times at the clay-court event. The fourth seed found a way, though, breaking Nishioka’s serve three consecutive times in the third set to triumph after two hours and eight minutes.

Sinner advanced to the semi-finals on debut in Barcelona in 2021 and will aim to match that feat when he faces seventh seed Cameron Norrie or ninth seed Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals.

The Italian is 26-6 on the season and arrives in Barcelona off the back of a run to his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the year in Monte-Carlo.

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Defending Champion Rune Makes Fast Start In Munich

Holger Rune made a winning start to his title defence at the BMW Open by American Express on Thursday when he moved past German wild card Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4 in Munich.

The 19-year-old was No. 70 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he earned his maiden tour-level title at the clay-court event 12 months ago. This week he returns to Munich at a career-high No. 7 after reaching the final in Monte-Carlo.

In the first ATP Head2Head meeting between Rune and Hanfmann, it was the Dane who quickly found his range in Munich, taking the ball early to hit through the German. He timed the ball cleanly off both wings and broke his opponent’s serve three times to advance after one hour and 25 minutes.

Rune now holds a 18-8 record on the season. The top seed is chasing his fourth tour-level title this week and will next face Cristian Garin or Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-finals.

In other action, Aslan Karatsev clawed past Daniel Altmaier 4-6 7-6(2), 6-2, while #NextGenATP Italian Flavio Cobolli defeated Oscar Otte 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. American Marcos Giron also advanced, overcoming Alexander Ritschard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

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