Paris (France) (AFP) – The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 3rd in the world, qualified for his first semi-final at the Masters 1000 in Paris after a crazy match, overthrowing the American Taylor Fritz (12th) on Friday 6-7 (10/12), 7-5, 6-3 after saving two match points in the second set.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 23:04

The 22-year-old Murcian will face the winner of the quarter-final between Norwegian Casper Ruud (23rd) and Portuguese lucky loser Nuno Borges (49th) on Saturday. The Spaniard had never gone beyond the quarter-finals in Paris, hardly successful since his debut in this indoor tournament in 2021.

In the first set, Fritz and Alcaraz fought a magnificent duel after an interminable tie-break, during which the two players each had three set points, before the Spaniard gave in to a direct error on the forehand.

Still imperious in the service, Fritz continued to attack Alcaraz on his throw-in, who defended like hell before giving in to another direct error.

But, as is often the case, Alcaraz gave free rein to his magic. He saved a first match point at 5-3 and got back to 5-4 at the end of the best point of the tournament, returning a volley returned at the end of the race with a cross drop shot. Fritz, a handsome player, could only smile in front of such a masterpiece.

The Spaniard dismissed a second match point at 5-4 then finally erased his break behind on a direct error from his opponent. Deprived of the first ball, the latter offered the second round to Alcaraz and never recovered. And the seven-time Grand Slam winner only needed one match point to advance to the semi-finals.

With this defeat, the American is now out of the race for the end-of-season Masters in Turin (November 15-22) since he had to reach the last four to overtake the Spaniard Rafael Jodar, 9th in the Race and last qualifier (in the absence of Sinner, injured).

© 2026 AFP

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