By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday July 29, 2022
Defending champ Carlos Alcaraz fought past Facundo Bagnis, 6-0, 6-4, to take his place in the semifinals at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag.
The Spaniard improves to 41-6 on the season, and 26-3 on clay, as he pushes into his seventh semifinal of the season
The top seed improves to 7-0 in Umag with his victory. He needed one hour and 24 minutes to finish off the World No.120, converting his sixth match point to remain undefeated against players outside the top-100.
Alcaraz can rise to a career-high ranking of No.4 in the world if he comes away with the title on Sunday at Umag.
"It means a lot to be able to [reach] the No. 4 ranking, to have a chance to do it," the 19-year-old said post-match. "It's amazing for me. I think I'm playing really well. I feel really comfortable playing here, a lot of confidence right now."
Only two seeds remain in the draw at Umag – Alcaraz and second-seeded Jannik Sinner, who pushed past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 7-6(5) in Friday.
Strangely it is Sinner’s first semifinal of the season, despite the 33-9 record on the season.
“I’ve won many matches, but I think I’ve had some unfortunate moments this year. But here I am, the first semi-final of the year, and hopefully I can show some good tennis also in the next round.”
If Sinner and Alcaraz do end up facing one another in the final it will be a heavily anticipated rematch of their round of 16 match at Wimbledon, which was won by Sinner in four sets. Alcaraz won their other meeting, at the 2021 Paris Masters.