Marathon Men: Carreno Busta, Schwartzman Set Barcelona SF

Pablo Carreno Busta and Diego Schwartzman produced inspired comebacks Friday at Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to set up a semi-final showdown. Both men worked double duty at the ATP 500 event after a Thursday rainout, making their battling efforts all the more impressive.

Carreno Busta saved three match points in the second set against Casper Ruud and then overcame an early break in the decider to survive 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-3, after three hours.

The Spanish eighth seed improves to 5-1 on the European clay swing after a third-round run in Monte Carlo, and ends an impressive streak for his opponent: Ruud had won the last 51 clay-court matches in which he won the opening set.

“I’m so, so happy for this victory,” said the 30-year-old from Gijon, who beat Lorenzo Sonego in another three-setter to start his day. “It was very emotional today playing in front of my people, in my home. I was a set down after playing three hours this morning, so it’s very, very tough to come back.

“Thanks to this crowd, because it was unbelievable to play here again in Barcelona, here in the semi-finals. I cannot be more happy.”

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Ruud’s three match points came with Carreno Busta serving at 4-5 in the second. But PCB fought through a four-deuce game, then took the tie-break on his sixth set point after leading 6/3. Ruud won eight straight points to take an early 2-1 lead in the final set, before the Spaniard won four straight games.

Carreno Busta, who saved 12 of 14 break points in the match, saved three apiece in each of his final two service games, including an escape from 0/40 as he served out the match.

After spending nearly six hours on court, he can now look forward to a fourth ATP Head2Head meeting against sixth seed Schwartzman.

“It’s a really great opponent in the semi-finals,” Carreno Busta said. “We played last year in the quarter-finals, three sets… dramatic at the end. So I hope to recover as much as I can after playing six hours today and try to be ready for tomorrow.”

The Spaniard holds a 2-1 edge over Schwartzman, including a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win in their most recent meeting in the Barcelona quarter-final.

Schwartzman did not live quite as dangerously on Friday against Felix Auger-Aliassime, as he did not drop serve in the final two sets to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The Argentine spent just over four hours on court Friday, topping Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 7-5, to open the day.

He earned his ATP Tour-leading 14th and 15th clay wins of the season to reach his fifth tour-level quarter-final on the year — all on his favoured surface. Schwartzman is seeking his first title of 2022 after runs to the final in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.