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.

“I would say that my shots were heavy,” Tsitsipas said. “I was able to control most of them and navigate him around the court on both my forehand and backhand. My patience was there. I knew that was the foundation of the match.

“I am satisfied with my return game, especially towards the end. I found myself in a very good position to press early on and look for the forehand and use my backhand when necessary as well.”

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.