Madrid Open: Alcaraz stays on course for fourth title of 2023

World number two Carlos Alcaraz stayed on course for his fourth title of 2023 by powering into the semi-finals of the Madrid Open with a 6-4 7-5 win over Russian Karen Khachanov on Thursday.

Defending his title from last year, Alcaraz will be looking to celebrate his 20th birthday on Friday with a win against either Croatian Borna Coric or surprise German qualifier Daniel Altmaier in his sixth Masters 1000 event semi-final.

Alcaraz managed to break the Russian's serve in the seventh game, closing the first set 6-4.

However, the Spaniard began the second set a little distracted and allowed Khachanov to open up a 4-1 lead before he woke up to fight back and win the match in under two hours.

"Winning this match gives me a lot of confidence," Alcaraz said.

"Karen had been playing at a high level and took me to the limit, it was decided by small details.

"I will train for Friday, but with a lot of tranquillity and calm, I will not be overwhelmed and I have to be fresh."

Alcaraz has reached 18 consecutive wins in Spanish clay-court tournaments since losing to Rafael Nadal in Madrid two years ago on his 19th birthday.

His winning percentage overall on clay is already the third best since 2010 (82.3%), behind only Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

In the women's singles, world number one Iga Swiatek showed her clay-court dominance after she beat Petra Martic 6-0, 6-3 later on Wednesday.

Swiatek will face Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the final after the Russian beat American Jessica Pegula 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the Madrid Open semis earlier.

"I think it was a pretty solid and clean performance," Swiatek told a news conference.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I focused. I was pretty consistent with my tactics and I think it paid off."