By Tennis Now | Saturday, April 10, 2021
Pablo Carreno Busta out-dueled Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a thrilling 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory and will face Jaume Munar in tomorrow's all-Spanish Marbella final.
Photo credit: AnyTech365 Andalucía Open Facebook
Spanish fans supplied the enthusiasm celebrating today's all-Spanish semifinals in Marbella.
Inspired by the crowd, the players produced plenty of passion.
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Pablo Carreno Busta out-dueled Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a thrilling 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory to secure his spot in the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open final.
The top-seeded Carreno Busta will play for his first title since the 2019 Chengdu when he faces compatriot Jaume Munar in tomorrow's final.
In a clash of rising stars, Munar broke serve four times fighting past teenage wild card Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-4 in today's second semifinal.
Four players from the same country reached the semifinals of an ATP Tour event for the first time in 17 years. Today and then, four Spaniards accomplished the feat at a clay-court event held in Spain during the month of April following Fernando Verdasco, Albert Montanes, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Alberto Martin who achieved the feat at the 2004 Valencia Open.
Former world No. 10 Carreno Busta burst out to a 5-0 lead and slammed successive love holds to snatch a one-set lead.
The left-handed Ramos-Vinolas served with more authority and used his forehand to finish points taking the second set on the strength of a single service break.
The fourth-seeded Ramos-Vinolas went up 3-1 in the decider and served for the final at 5-4. But he betrayed his cause with a double fault and stray forehand. Carreno Busta broke back to level at 5-all.
Carreno Busta converted his third match point to close a dramatic two hours, 11 minute win to reach his eighth career final.
“It was so close. I don’t know what happened in the second set,” Carreno Busta said. “At the beginning of the match, I was very focused on my game and being aggressive.
"After that, Albert of course started to push more and I started to lose my level a little bit. I just kept fighting all the time, and I want to thank everyone for their support. This is what we missed last year, the crowd. It’s very important to play these kinds of very close matches with a crowd like this."