ATP Tour

Alcaraz rides career-long win streak into Queen's Club SFs

Carlos Alcaraz extended his winning streak to 16 matches Friday at the HSBC Championships, where he sealed his semi-final spot in fine fashion.

The top seed and 2023 Queen’s Club champion withstood a barrage of big serving from lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech to prevail 7-5, 6-4. Alcaraz, who was tested in a gruelling three-set battle with Jaume Munar in the second round, delivered a contrasting quarter-final display against Rinderknech, during which he did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I thought I was going to feel much worse, but we are tennis players, we have to do whatever we have to do to feel good,” said Alcaraz. “I’m glad that today was one hour and 20 minutes, a bit more like grass.”

After improving to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Rinderknech, Alcaraz will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals. After capturing titles at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome and Roland Garros, Alcaraz is riding the longest winning streak of his career.

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“I’m feeling much better than my first match, obviously, but that’s what I’m trying to do,” said Alcaraz. “I’m feeling great, and I’m just happy to play at such a good level today. It was a big challenge today, but I’m happy with the way I played and felt today.”

Alcaraz is now 1,940 points ahead of second-placed Jannik Sinner atop the PIF ATP Race To Turin, which serves as an indicator as to who will claim the ATP Year End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.

The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Alcaraz triumphed on his debut at Queen’s Club in 2023 before falling to home favourite Jack Draper in the second round last year. The 22-year-old is seeded to meet Draper in the final this year after the Briton defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 earlier on Friday.

Bautista Agut earned his first Top 10 win of the season by holding off fourth seed Holger Rune to advance to his 47th tour-level semi-final. The 37-year-old Spaniard, who is the third oldest man to reach this stage at Queen’s Club, struck cleanly from the back of the court and prevailed 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 after two hours, 26 minutes.

In a fired-up second-set tie-break display, Rune reeled off five points from 2/4 to spark hopes of a comeback. Yet Bautista Agut responded with an impressive serving performance in the final set to overwhelm the Dane, winning 14 of 15 points behind his first delivery.

“It means a lot, it means that I still really love the sport,” said Bautista Agut. “I wake up every morning with 120 per cent of dedication. I’ve been doing a lot of work this year, but the results didn't show. But I’m very happy with how I’m playing this week.”

Bautista Agut saved a match point in his opener against Nuno Borges and rallied from a set in his second-round match against #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik. A former World No. 9, Bautista Agut is up eight spots to No. 43 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.