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Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain thrashed seventh seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-0, 6-2 on Friday to move into the semifinals of the Hamburg European Open in a match that lasted a little over an hour.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz will face Alex Molcan of Slovakia in the semifinals on Saturday. Alcaraz was almost flawless in his performance on Friday to beat Khachanov.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the quarterfinal match in Hamburg:
#1 Carlos Alcaraz dismantled Karen Khachanov in the first set by serving a bagel:
Alcaraz started strong and was relentless, putting pressure on the Russian at the start of the first set. He broke the Russian thrice and never lost his serve to walk away with the first set 6-0, or more popularly known as a bagel.
Alcaraz played the angles well, came up with occasional drop shots and placed his lobs perfectly to offer Khachanov no respite. The Russian struggled to deal with the Spaniard's brilliant shot-making throughout the first set and didn't win a single point on his second serve out of six.
#2 Karen Khachanov made a brief comeback at the beginning of the second set:
Khachanov briefly recovered from the blow he received in the first set. He managed to hold his serve in his first two service games of the second set. However, Alcaraz did not lose his serve either, and the score was level at 2-2.
Khachanov's return was not powerful enough to test Alcaraz's serve. Moreover, he was too dependent on his forehand to win points.
#3 Carlos Alcaraz raced through the second set by winning four consecutive games:
Alcaraz then reproduced the kind of tennis he had displayed in the first set and won four consecutive games to finish the match. Khachanov tried to hit through the Spaniard at times, but the latter's defensive skills and lateral movement were too good.
Khachanov could only win two out of his seven service games in the match. He also faced 11 break points, of which he had to concede five. The Russian could only win 14% of the points on his second serve of the match.
