Masterful Alcaraz Brushes Past Tsitsipas To Barcelona Crown

Carlos Alcaraz capped a perfect week at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Sunday by outplaying Stefanos Tsitsipas with a high-quality championship-match display at the ATP 500.

The home favourite was in irresistible touch on Pista Rafa Nadal, where he combined fierce ballstriking and deft forehand drop shots with inspired defence to wrap a 6-3, 6-4 victory and claim his ninth tour-level crown. Although he dropped serve in the third game of the match, Alcaraz showed no further sign of nerves in front of his home fans as he powered to a 79-minute triumph against the World No. 5 Tsitsipas.

"It is incredible," Alcaraz said. "To feel this energy and lift the trophy in Barcelona in front of my family and friends, and most members of my team are here as well. Playing this level and to lift the trophy in front of them is a good feeling for me."

Alcaraz now holds a 4-0 ATP Head2Head record against Tsitsipas, who was chasing his first Barcelona title on his third championship-match appearance. After defending his 2022 title, the 19-year-old Alcaraz is now 10-1 in Barcelona and has won his past 14 ATP Tour matches on Spanish soil.

"Me and my team were talking before the match about staying relaxed,” said Alcaraz. “To want to play the tough moments. Staying relaxed is the most important part for me. To forget the mistakes, everything and be myself on court. Not to think about all the people watching, but just me, the court, the racquet and the final."

After Tsitsipas broke for 2-1 early, Alcaraz won five of the next six games to take charge of the fifth all-Top 10 ATP Tour final of 2023. He continued to delight the home crowd with some remarkable shotmaking into the second set, and a solitary break in the fifth game proved enough to clinch the title without having dropped a set all week.

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The Spaniard was particularly dominant on serve against the big-hitting Tsitisipas. He won 81 per cent (30/37) of points behind his first delivery, numbers he will hope to maintain next week when he also steps on court as defending champion at the Mutua Madrid Open.

With his third ATP Tour title of 2023 (Buenos Aires, Indian Wells), Alcaraz leapfrogged Jannik Sinner into third place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The No. 2-ranked Spaniard also closed the gap on Novak Djokovic to 365 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as he bids to return to World No. 1.

Tsitsipas defeated Denis Shapovalov, Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti en route to his third final in Barcelona, where he fell to Rafael Nadal in the 2018 and 2021 finals. The Greek is now 21-5 for the season, having also reached the final at January’s Australian Open.

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