Carlos Alcaraz stretched his winning streak at 500-level events to 25, sinking the ATP’s hard-court wins leader Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 7-6(4) to reach the final at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, now 15-0 at 500-level events this year, reached his 37th ATP final, and third indoors.
Alcaraz recorded his first Top 5 victory since he made his return from a wrist injury at this year’s US Open. The seven-time major champion is 31-15 overall against the Top 5.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said in an on-court interview after the win. “Beating someone like Daniil on an indoor court, after the run he was having, you know, a lot of wins in a row, a lot of confidence, and that I was able to beat him is special.
“I’ve been working really hard in every aspect of my game to try to be in good shape for this tournament, try to give myself another chance to go far in the tournament. So I’m just really, really happy to be able to play another final, first one here in Vienna.”
Alcaraz converted three of four break points in the 96-minute contest, and won 78 points behind his first serve. He hit 13 forehand winners overall, but did misfire quite a bit in the second set, committing 12 unforced errors of that wing as the pair traded breaks in the middle of the set before finishing with a tiebreak.
Medvedev was on an 18-2 run and riding a seven-match winning streak heading into his tenth career meeting with Alcaraz. Despite the loss, the former world No.1 leaves Vienna having locked up a spot in November’s ATP Finals in Turin for the seventh time in eight years.
Alcaraz improved to 17-8 in tiebreaks this season. He has followed a pattern in Vienna, winning all four of his matches in straight sets and finishing each victory with a tiebreak (against Khachanov, Basilashvili and Paul previously).
Alcaraz will face either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur in Sunday’s final in Vienna as he bids for his 28th career ATP title and fourth of 2026.
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