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Alcaraz and Rune tee up Barcelona showdown as Zverev makes Munich final

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5 daysTennis

Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune will meet in a mouthwatering showdown at the Barcelona Open.

The youngsters will meet in an ATP Tour-level final for the first time after their respective wins over Arthur Fils and Karen Khachanov.

Alcaraz overcame Frenchman Fils en route to winning the Monte-Carlo Masters last week, but whereas he had to come from behind in that match, the Spaniard had no such issues in this case.

He won 6-2 6-4 in just 76 minutes to move within one victory of clinching the Barcelona title for the third time.

"Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final," said Alcaraz.

"I played twice here, so being in a final here in Barcelona again means a lot. In front of my people, my friends who came from Murcia, and, of course, the people here in Barcelona.

"It’s been a really fun and great week, and let’s see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy."

Standing in the way is Rune, who won 6-3 6-2 on Saturday.

The sixth seed is into his second final of the season, having lost to Jack Draper at the Indian Wells Open.

Regardless of the result on Sunday, Rune will move back into the top 10 in the ATP rankings for the first time since April 2024.

World number three Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, continued his resurgence in form by clinching a place in the final of the Munich Open.

Zverev downed Fabian Marozan 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, and is targeting a third title in Munich.

He will go up against Ben Shelton, who overcame Francisco Cerundolo 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.

Data Debrief: Alcaraz rolls on

It is now 14 straight match wins in Barcelona for Alcaraz, who did not compete at the tournament last season, having won it in 2022 and 2023.

Rune will not make it easy for the 21-year-old, though. The Dane and Alcaraz are two of three players, along with Alexandre Muller, to reach finals on both clay and hard-court this season.

Shelton, meanwhile, is the first American man to reach a clay-court final at an event rated above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi triumphed at the Italian Open in 2002.