Staff Reporter.
World No 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas saved two match points to defeat Facundo Diaz Acosta and reach the semifinals of the Barcelona clay-court tournament on Friday.
The Greek came through 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) after his 53rd-ranked Argentine opponent missed a match point in the 12th game of the deciding set.
Both men then saved more match points in the tie-breaker before Tsitsipas, a three-time runner-up at the Barcelona tournament, secured a ninth successive win following on from his Monte Carlo Masters title victory at the weekend.
The 25-year-old Tsitsipas will face either 36th-ranked Arthur Fils of France or Dusan Lajovic, the world number 59 from Serbia, in the semifinals on Saturday.
Casper Ruud, the world No 6 from Norway who was runner-up to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo, eased past Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-3.
“It is not easy. You are playing for a spot in the semifinals,” said Ruud.
“I was able to come through in the end after a few crazy rallies.”
Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry also booked his place in the semifinals with a hard-fought straight sets win over Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Etcheverry, ranked 30 in the world, one place higher Norrie, edged a tight match 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/1) and will face Ruud for a place on the final.
“I spoke to my coach last night and also my team, that I have to play aggressively to win this match,” the 24-year-old Etcheverry said. “The tie-break was key. I played really good in that part of the match.”
Meanwhile Casper Ruud beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-3 to notch his season-leading 27th win. The sixth-ranked Norwegian has two more wins than Jannik Sinner.
Ruud is trying to reach his fourth final this year. Besides the loss in Monte Carlo, he also lost finals in Los Cabos and Acapulco.
Top-seeded Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament before it started because of an injury, while second-seededAndrey Rublev lost in the second round.
Rafael Nadal a 12-time champion in Barcelona, made his return to the courts for the first time since January on Tuesday, only to lose the next day.