Alcaraz Soars Into Basel SFs

Carlos Alcaraz moved to within two wins of capturing his sixth tour-level title of the season Friday when he overcame Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4 at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The 19-year-old Spaniard looked in control throughout the one-hour, 38-minute clash at the ATP 500 event, opening his shoulders to hit through his countryman on the indoor courts. Alcaraz overpowered Carreno Busta during the backhand exchanges and showed good touch around the net to efficiently win points and triumph.

“It is difficult to play against a friend like Pablo,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “Every day we go and have dinner, lunch, together. Every week and we train together, so it is difficult to play against him. I also support him and want him to win every match. On court, there are no friends. You have to be focused and go for the match and that is what I did.”

The World No. 1 Alcaraz now leads Carreno Busta 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated him in the Barcelona final in April. Alcaraz, who defeated Jack Draper and Botic van de Zandschulp earlier this week, will next play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“It is going to be a really tough match,” Alcaraz said looking ahead to his match against Auger-Aliassime. “He is playing really well. He has had great victories this year. I will have to be really focused. I will try to show my best tennis against him.”

The Spaniard is now 4-2 since his US Open triumph last month – which earned him his debut atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings – and 55-11 on the season overall. Through to his ninth semi-final of the year, Alcaraz is looking to add to his Tour-leading five titles in 2022, which includes ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Madrid.

If he can overcome Auger-Aliassime and reach his eighth final of the season, he will move ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has advanced to seven championship matches this year. The Greek could also reach the final in Vienna this week, though.

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In the bottom half of the draw, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut moved past Swiss home hope Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6(5) in two hours and 10 minutes.

The 34-year-old had lost at the quarter-final stage in his three previous appearances in Basel but produced a consistent baseline performance against Wawrinka to ensure he would not fall at the same stage this year.

Bautista Agut will next play Holger Rune after the #NextGenATP Dane defeated Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(0), 6-2 in 82 minutes.

Rune, who will compete at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan next month, has now won 12 of his past 13 matches. The 19-year-old defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to triumph in Stockholm last week.