Alcaraz, Thiem make semis

HAMBURG, Germany (AFP) — Carlos Alcaraz edged closer to his fifth title of 2022 on Friday when he breezed past Karen Khachanov 6-0, 6-2 to reach the Hamburg clay-court semifinals.

“I played unbelievable today, probably one of my best matches this year,” said Alcaraz after firing 21 winners past his rival.

Alcaraz improved to 2-0 in the pair’s head-to-head series following a straight sets win in the last 16 of the French Open.

The 19-year-old Spaniard will face Alex Molcan in Saturday’s semi-final.

The Slovakian led Borna Coric 7-6 (9/7), 2-0 before the Croatian retired with an injury.

Lorenzo Musetti is poised to crack the top 50 for the first time after making the semifinals by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 6-3.

Musetti, 20, next faces Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who defeated Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Cerundolo claimed his maiden ATP title in Bastad last weekend. Meanwhile in Gstaad, Switzerland,

Dominic Thiem on Friday reached his first ATP Tour semifinal since May 2021 with a straight-sets victory over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas.

The former US Open champion won 6-4, 6-3 and will next face second seed Matteo Berrettini as he looks to make a first final since the 2020 ATP Finals.

Thiem missed the second half of last year due to a wrist injury and lost his first six Tour matches this season.

I played unbelievable today, probably one of my best matches this year.

“I failed to serve out at (5-2 in the first set), but it was also the nerves a little bit because it is my first semi-final in one and a half years,” said Thiem, who also reached the quarter-finals in Bastad last week.

“I need the points to go back up the rankings. I was happy I was able to break the nerves.”

Thiem, currently ranked 274th but now set to return to the top 200, will be hoping to win an 18th ATP title this weekend in the clay-court event.