Five years ago, on his only previous appearance at the Erste Bank Open, Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/2) saw his run end in the semi-finals. This time, the Spaniard went one step further, securing his place in the final with a hard-fought victory over Daniil Medvedev (3).

Alcaraz earned an early break in the opening set but was immediately broken back in the following game. At 5-4, the Spaniard struck again. Roared on by the crowd, he secured the decisive break to take the opening set.

In the second set, Medvedev was the first to threaten a break but was unable to convert his opportunity. Alcaraz then increasingly put him under pressure with his outstanding defensive play and eventually broke serve in the following game. Medvedev once again demonstrated his strong mentality, however, breaking Alcaraz to love immediately afterwards to level the set.

A capacity crowd at the Wiener Stadthalle celebrated the long and spectacular rallies between the two former world No. 1s. The noise level rose particularly high whenever crowd favourite Alcaraz won a point.

The second set was therefore decided in a tie-break. Medvedev began with a mini-break, but Alcaraz immediately recovered the deficit before moving ahead himself. With his explosive and fast-paced game, the Spaniard eventually prevailed 6-4, 7-6(2) to seal his place in the Vienna final.

Alcaraz has now reached the 37th ATP Tour final of his career. He will face either Alexander Zverev (GER/1) or Alex de Minaur (AUS/5).

Reflecting on reaching the final, Alcaraz said: “It is something very special. This is what I work for every day. Of course, I try to reach the final at every tournament I play. I am therefore very happy to have made it to the final and to now have the opportunity to win a title.”