|
Defending his title from last year, Alcaraz
will be looking to celebrate his 20th birthday on Friday with a
win against either Croatian Borna Coric or surprise German
qualifier Daniel Altmaier in his sixth Masters 1000 event
semi-final.
Alcaraz managed to break the Russian's serve in the seventh
game, closing the first set 6-4.
However, the Spaniard began the second set a little distracted
and allowed Khachanov to open up a 4-1 lead before he woke up to
fight back and win the match in under two hours.
"Winning this match gives me a lot of confidence," Alcaraz said.
"Karen had been playing at a high level and took me to the
limit, it was decided by small details.
"I will train for Friday, but with a lot of tranquillity and
calm, I will not be overwhelmed and I have to be fresh."
Alcaraz has reached 18 consecutive wins in Spanish clay-court
tournaments since losing to Rafael Nadal in Madrid two years
ago.
His winning percentage overall on clay is already the third best
since 2010 (82.3%), behind only Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
SWIATEK THRASHES MARTIC
In the women's singles, world number one Iga Swiatek showed her
clay-court dominance after she beat Petra Martic 6-0 6-3 later
on Wednesday.
Swiatek will face Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the final
after the Russian beat American Jessica Pegula 6-4 0-6 6-4 and
reach the Madrid Open semis earlier.
"I think it was a pretty solid and clean performance," Swiatek
told a news conference.
"I'm pretty happy with the way I focused. I was pretty
consistent with my tactics and I think it paid off."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson
and Christian Radnedge)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
