Carlos Alcaraz battled into the semifinals of the Barcelona Open on Friday with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alex de Minaur after Casper Ruud’s title defence was ended by Holger Rune.

Top seed Alcaraz twice fell a break down but recovered to win the opening set in a match-up of the two players with the most wins on tour this season.

Alcaraz, chasing a third Barcelona title in four years after missing the last edition with injury, broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set before closing out the victory.

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Earlier, Holger Rune ended Casper Ruud’s title defence in Barcelona with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the defending champion in the quarterfinal.

World number 13 Rune broke Ruud twice in each set as he beat the 10th-ranked Norwegian for only the second time in eight attempts.

The Dane will face Karen Khachanov in the semifinals after the Russian overcame Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-5.