The New Jersey Devils' injury woes are reaching alarming new heights.

Defenseman Brenden Dillon and forward Cody Glass exited during the second and third periods, respectively, in Game 1 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, a 4-1 loss for New Jersey. The Devils were also briefly without defenseman Luke Hughes, who left in the third period but was able to return.

New Jersey entered the postseason already undermanned. Top forward Jack Hughes, Luke's brother, had season-ending shoulder surgery in March, and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is also not expected to be available in the first round.

Coach Sheldon Keefe remained optimistic, though, about one of the team's latest injured bodies.

"[Dillon] was eager to get back out there," Keefe said by way of an update. Doctors ultimately held Dillon out for "precautionary reasons."

The veteran blueliner was taken to the ice by Carolina forward William Carrier while battling in front of the Devils' net. Dillon remained down for several minutes before being helped off by New Jersey's training staff.

It was a disastrous third-period sequence that shortened New Jersey's bench further. Hughes went flying into the Devils' net after tripping over Hurricanes' forward Andrei Svechnikov, and ran off the ice cradling his right arm. Then, Devils' goaltender Jacob Markstrom accidentally clipped Glass with his stick while appearing to aim for Svechnikov. Glass left and did not return, while Hughes finished the game.

New Jersey will have to wait and see who is available when it takes on Carolina in Game 2 on Tuesday. For now, Keefe won't let the Devils dwell on what they can't control.

"To a man, myself included," he said, "we're all going to have to be better."

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Logan Stankoven provided an immediate jolt in his first playoff game with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 22-year-old forward scored twice in the second period Sunday to help the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 in the opener of their first-round playoff series. It was part of a strong debut that included his work on the Hurricanes' top defensive forward line with captain Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook.

"I love playing in the big games and meaningful hockey. I'm motivated to try to contribute in any way possible," Stankoven said. "Yeah, it's always a nice feeling to get on the scoresheet."

Stankoven's play was part of a strong top-to-bottom start for the Hurricanes in their seventh straight trip to the playoffs. And it offered an example of why he was the primary return in a trade-deadline deal that allowed Carolina to pivot out of its big-swing January addition of scoring winger Mikko Rantanen.

"He's got a little more skill than me and Marty, and obviously he can put the puck in the net," Staal said. "He's a good little player obviously: finds holes, he's got good speed, and he can shoot the puck. So he's just getting warmed up."

The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Stankoven had five goals and four assists in 19 regular-season games with Carolina, with coach Rod Brind'Amour tinkering with the line groupings to find Stankoven's best fit. That eventually led to Stankoven playing alongside the 6-4, 220-pound Staal and the 6-1, 208-pound Martinook more as the Hurricanes closed the regular season, even as they lost seven of eight after clinching their playoff spot on April 3 while resting key guys with the goal of being healthy for the postseason.

"It worked tonight," Brind'Amour said. "But you're right, it's a safety net for players to play with two guys that do it the right way every shift -- or at least certainly try to. there's a lot of comfort there I think for any player that gets to play with guys like that."

Stankoven's first goal offered an example of the fit, coming when Martinook pushed up ice on the right side and tried to send a backhand feed across the ice back toward the crease. Devils center Nico Hischier knocked it down, but Martinook stayed on the forecheck and forced Hischier into a turnover behind the goal.

Martinook then slipped the puck to a trailing Stankoven, who sent the puck past Jacob Markstrom for a 2-0 lead. Stankoven slid to a stop as he bumped into Staal, the linemates facing each other as they raised both arms in victory before embracing with Martinook skating over to join them.

"I mean, I think they've got skill, too," Stankoven said with a smile of his linemates. "It's nice having a couple of big bodies on my line. They do such a good job of creating space for me, and I think we can thrive down low."

Minutes later, Stankoven provided a needed punch to a power play. Fellow new addition Taylor Hall whipped a cross-ice pass to the right side to Stankoven, who had a clean lane from the faceoff dot with Markstrom. Stankoven whipped a rising shot past Markstrom's right shoulder, the puck pinging off the inside of the left post and into the net for a 3-0 lead.

"I'm just trying to adapt to those players and be in the right spots to get pucks off," Stankoven said. "Like you said, it takes a bit of time at first, but I think I've been adjusting pretty well. The guys have done a good job of communicating with me and helping me out."

Ruben Amorim has insisted that Rasmus Højlund is not solely to blame for Manchester United's problems scoring while also urging the rest of the team to take responsibility in front of goal.

Højlund was guilty of missing a golden chance during the second half of Wolves 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday when he failed to convert Alejandro Garnacho's cross to the back post.

It's now just one goal in nearly 30 hours of football for the Denmark striker, who has only found the net three times in the Premier League all season.

"I think if you look at the games we have several players that miss big chances, not just Rasmus," Amorim said.

"Of course, Rasmus, the game is to score goals because he's a striker, but it's a team thing. I already said that. Our team should score more goals, it's not just Rasmus missing chances."

The pressure on Højlund has increased after Joshua Zirkzee was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.

Amorim was asked whether the 22-year-old needed to be taken out of the team to allow him to recover mentally from his poor run of form.

But the Portuguese coach hinted that he will keep picking Højlund in the hope that a goal might kick-start a run of confidence.

"The only way I know is to work on him and show him the videos," Amorim said.

"Like you said he needs to score a goal and he won't score if he is out [of the team] so I try to manage that during games. He needs to score, that's all, like a striker needs."

United are expected to try and solve their goalscoring problem by signing a new striker in the summer. They've been linked with Liam Delap, Victor Osimhen and Ollie Waktins among others. Amorim, though, believes the issue runs deeper.

"It's a team thing," he said.

"Of course, we have an idea of what this team needs but also the guys we play with, we play at least three guys in front to score goals and we have midfielders that can.

"All the team needs to score more goals and you have opportunities with the midfielders and the striker. We need to improve as a team because if you don't score goals in this league it's impossible to win games."

Throughout the course of the weekend, the LaLiga title race went from wide open, to totally over, to back as it was before a ball had been kicked. Credit to Real Madrid for sticking around while their season is on the brink of imploding around them.

In the Premier League, the title race is nearly officially over, but the race for European places is as competitive as ever. Just two points separate third from seventh, meaning that one bad day at the office could be the difference between a place in the UEFA Champions League and a season full of dates in the UEFA Conference League.

Meanwhile, in the Bundesliga, Germany's last remaining clubs were knocked out of European competition, but Bayern Munich returned to some sense of normalcy by dismantling a relative minnow.

All that and more in this edition of Weekend Review as Sam Tighe, Alex Kirkland and Constantin Eckner look across Europe for the big takeaways and highlights from the weekend.

Premier League

Top takeaway: Champions League pressure cranked up on Forest

Nottingham Forest will have watched, with increasing concern, as Manchester City, then Aston Villa and then Chelsea won this weekend. It's the last thing they needed as they gear up to face Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, knowing that despite a near-perfect season to date, they've been dragged back into the fight for a top-five berth -- and with every passing week, their grip on one of those places has appeared to slip.

The nature of some of those results will have alarmed the Tricky Trees, too. Chelsea showed a surprising resilience to come from behind and beat rivals Fulham in the 94th minute, Villa dismantled a Newcastle United team that had won five in a row, and City -- for all their faults -- found a way to win again.

Forest, meanwhile, urgently need to set the form book straight: They have not responded well to a couple of key recent injuries, losing twice on the spin. A trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will not be easy -- especially as Spurs just put in their most accomplished performance in months against Eintracht Frankfurt last Thursday -- and they'll be feeling the heat generated by their rivals' results.

Will the pressure make them or break them?

Best match: Brentford 4-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Cheekily dubbed the "well-run club derby" on local radio before the game, this match did anything but go to plan. Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa continued their scoring sprees and the Seagulls refused to quit despite Joao Pedro's red card for violent conduct on the hour.

Best goal: Gabriel Martinelli at Ipswich Town

Lesley Ugochukwu (Southampton), Amadou Onana (Villa) and Pedro Neto (Chelsea) all scored phenomenal, thumping efforts this weekend, but there's just something about the move for Martinelli's goal for Arsenal that we can't shake off. It was so precise and so deft, with Mikel Merino's brilliant back-heel taking it from "well worked" to "a class above."

MVP of the weekend: Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa

Watkins delivered a No. 9 masterclass at Villa Park on Saturday. He scored one, assisted another, hit the post, struck the bar and left central defender Fabian Schär utterly dazed by his relentless movement, speed and hold-up play. It was an unbelievable display. -- Tighe

LaLiga

Top takeaway: Valverde wonderstrike keeps Madrid in title race

Two questions dominated the buildup to Real Madrid's game with Athletic Club on Sunday. How would the team react to its midweek Champions League elimination? And how would the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu? In the end, neither quite lived up to expectations.

Madrid were mostly flat, dominating possession and creating chances, but never with enough urgency or intensity to put Athletic under sustained pressure. The closest Madrid had come to scoring was in the 80th minute -- when Vinícius Júnior's pinpoint shot was disallowed for offside -- before Federico Valverde stepped up with a 93rd-minute golazo, volleyed into the net with unerring accuracy, to earn a 1-0 win.

As for the crowd, there were fewer whistles than expected for coach Carlo Ancelotti and his players as their names were read out over the stadium loudspeaker prematch. The loudest the fans' displeasure got was when Kylian Mbappé -- suspended and injured -- was shown on the Bernabéu's giant screens, watching in the stands. Mbappé was whistled as he limped off against Arsenal in midweek, too.

As the game went on, the fans' frustration grew. Ancelotti threw on one substitute after another -- Endrick, Arda Güler, Brahim Díaz -- to try to spark the team into life, but it was Vinícius, another recent target for the crowd's ire, who looked most likely to make something happen, until Valverde's moment of late genius.

The victory leaves Madrid four points behind leaders Barcelona with six matches left. It's not an impossible margin to overcome; but they'll need to play better than this to stand a chance of winning the league.

Best match: Barcelona 4-3 Celta Vigo

Celta looked to have blown the title race wide open when Borja Iglesias put them 3-1 up at Montjuïc after an hour, but that feeling lasted just two minutes. Dani Olmo pulled a goal back, Raphinha leveled four minutes later and then converted a penalty -- awarded after a VAR check, for a foul on Olmo -- in the 98th minute. Barça won 4-3, maintaining their lead at the top. No points for Celta: just another reminder that they're LaLiga's great entertainers.

Best goal: Yeremy Pino, Pape Gueye or Etta Eyong vs. Real Sociedad

Villarreal scored three brilliant goals against Real Sociedad at La Cerámica. Sadly for them, none of them counted. Pino's chipped finish from Juan Foyth's clever pass was disallowed for offside. Gueye's smooth volley was ruled out, Ayoze Pérez judged to have interfered with play. And then Eyong's first senior goal -- which would have made it 3-2 in the 96th minute, after Nicolas Pépé's jinking run -- was disallowed for a Pepê foul.

"We played an extraordinary game," coach Marcelino said. "We scored five goals, but only two counted."

MVP of the weekend: Borja Iglesias, Celta Vigo

Spare a thought for Celta's Iglesias, who scored a hat trick against Barcelona but still ended up on the losing side. The forward they call "The Panda" hadn't found the net in LaLiga since January. Here, he scored three -- the third the pick of the finishes, coolly beating Wojciech Szczesny -- but it still wasn't enough. -- Kirkland

Bundesliga

Top takeaway: Back to business for Bayern

The Bundesliga suffered heartbreak in midweek, as all three of its remaining teams were eliminated from European competition. Bayern Munich, in particular, seemed distraught following their loss to Inter Milan, as their dream of playing the UEFA Champions League final at their own Allianz Arena is well and truly over.

In order to bring home at least one piece of silverware this season, Bayern need to avoid any slip-ups in the next few weeks. Vincent Kompany's team faced Heidenheim on Saturday, with the hosts hoping to keep their 16th place in the Bundesliga standings, which would qualify for the relegation playoffs against the third-placed team from the 2. Bundesliga. Having won only two of their past six games across competitions, Bayern took out their anger on Heidenheim, beating the hosts 4-0.

This one-sided win might actually fuel criticism, though, because the widespread argument these days is that Harry Kane & Co. can only beat up the little guys in the Bundesliga and fall short against top-tier competition. At least this win increases Bayern's chances of reclaiming the German championship.

Best match: Union Berlin 4-4 VfB Stuttgart

The first half of this game deserves a movie being made about it. With eight goals scored in the first half, the two teams set a new Bundesliga record. The lead changed multiple times, and it was the kind of game where no one wanted the halftime whistle to blow. It was just too much fun. As far as Stuttgart are concerned, their best chance of qualifying for European competition at this point is winning the German Cup final against third-tier Arminia Bielefeld.

Best goal: Leopold Querfeld vs. Stuttgart

The fifth goal of that game was a real beauty and came out of nowhere. Querfeld had a bit of space to enter the Stuttgart half, but no one expected him to shoot from roughly 38 yards out and find the top corner of the goal. The 21-year-old might never hit the ball as perfectly ever again in his career.

MVP of the weekend: Lucas Höler, SC Freiburg

A name you might not read often, but Höler has been one of Freiburg's more consistent performers for quite a couple of years, although he has not scored as regularly this season. Saturday was different, as the 30-year-old striker contributed two goals to Freiburg's 3-2 win over TSG Hoffenheim, which keeps their Champions League hopes alive. -- Eckner

What else you missed this weekend

Mbappé's week from hell continues

Mbappé endured a tough week both on and off the pitch.

On the pitch, his Real Madrid side crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal and he limped off injured late on after attempting a tackle. His participation in next weekend's Copa del Rey final against Barcelona is now in question.

Off the pitch, things arguably went worse. The striker is the majority owner of French club Stade Malherbe Caen, who lost 3-0 on Friday night to Martigues, a result that officially relegated them to the Championnat National (France's third tier) with three games to play.

It marks the end of a disastrous campaign for Caen, who dropped from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2 in 2019 and had hoped for brighter horizons following Mbappé's takeover. Things have only got worse, though; in January the fans protested against the way the World Cup winner was running the club, and now relegation to the semiprofessional third rung has been confirmed. -- Tighe

Beautiful football in a beautiful locale

Looking at the Serie A table, one would not be too impressed by Como's position. The team from picturesque Lago di Como is currently 13th in the standings, but that tells only part of the story, because manager Cesc Fàbregas has done a tremendous job in developing a side that feels quite comfortable in possession, recording the seventh-highest average ball possession percentage and the sixth-highest shot output. Unsurprisingly, rumors linking Fàbregas with a club like RB Leipzig have emerged in recent times.

Before the weekend, Como had won their previous two games against Monza and Torino. They faced Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare on Saturday and beat Marco Giampaolo's side 3-0. While Como's defense allowed a number of chances, their attack involving playmaker Nico Paz looked pretty great once again.

Despite the attractiveness of the city and a famous minority owner in Thierry Henry, Como as a club have a ceiling in Serie A. Fàbregas is making sure they hit it as soon as possible. -- Eckner

BOSTON -- Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum said a postgame X-ray on his right wrist was "clean" and that he was "all right" after a hard fall on that wrist during his team's 103-86 playoff-opening win against the Orlando Magic on Sunday at TD Garden.

Tatum, who finished with 17 points on 8-of-22 shooting in nearly 40 minutes, appeared to injure his right wrist with 8:28 remaining in the fourth quarter on a driving dunk attempt at the rim when he was met by two Magic defenders, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr.

Caldwell-Pope and Carter collided mid-air with Tatum, sending Tatum to the ground. He appeared to land on his right wrist.

Tatum immediately grabbed his wrist, wincing in pain as he stayed on the ground. After a review, the initial call of a personal foul on Caldwell-Pope was upgraded to a flagrant foul.

Tatum stayed in the game but missed the ensuing two free throws. He appeared to be favoring his wrist, which he flexed and held after walking off the court in the final seconds as the second-seeded Celtics closed out Game 1 of their first-round series against the seventh-seeded Magic.

"It's all right," Tatum said after. "Just fell on it, landed on it."

He added, "It was throbbing for a second. Kind of went away."

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla simply said that Tatum was "doing good" after the game and didn't seem to be concerned about Tatum's availability moving forward.

Though Tatum had an off-shooting game of sorts by his standards (including going 1-of-8 from 3-point range), he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, and the Celtics were buoyed by strong performances from throughout the roster.

Starting guard Derrick White made seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 30 points.

Payton Pritchard, the frontrunner for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, scored 19 points off the Boston bench.

And the defending champion Celtics rebounded with a strong second half, building a 19-point lead at one point, after trailing by one at halftime against a Magic team that was led by a game-high 36 points from Paolo Banchero.

"I think that's what makes us so dangerous, that we just have a really well-balanced team," Tatum said. "And guys step up and it can be different guys on any night. And everybody else just kind of figures out their part to make sure we win."

Celtics All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown added 16 points in nearly 30 minutes in his first game back after missing the final three games of the regular season with a bone bruise in his right knee. Brown, who added a driving two-handed dunk late in the third quarter, seemed to move well in his first game in nearly two weeks.

"I felt good today," Brown said of his knee. "To start the game, it took me a little bit to get into the game. I feel like I was watching a little bit to start. Second half, I was able to get more involved, make some plays, have some better activities."

The Celtics will face the Magic in Game 2 on Wednesday in Boston.

The NBA unveiled the three finalists for each of its seven major individual awards for the 2024-25 regular season Sunday night, with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlining the finalists for the league's Most Valuable Player award.

Jokic, a three-time MVP who is looking to become the third player -- along with LeBron James and Bill Russell -- to win four MVPs in five years, is virtually assured of finishing in the top two of voting for the league's top individual honor for a fifth straight season. It'll be the first time anyone has accomplished that feat since Larry Bird did it from 1981 to 1986.

The only question is whether Jokic -- who averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists to join Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average a triple-double for a season -- will finish first or Gilgeous-Alexander will earn his first MVP award.

The Thunder superstar, who led the league in scoring with 32.7 points per game, fueled Oklahoma City to a franchise-record 68 wins -- the most in the NBA since the Golden State Warriors set the record with 73 victories in 2016 -- and finished atop the last two versions of ESPN's MVP straw poll.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo joins Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander as an MVP finalist. Antetokounmpo has finished in the top four in MVP voting for seven consecutive seasons, including winning the award in 2019 and 2020.

Perhaps this year's most interesting award is for the Defensive Player of the Year. San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama was seen as a virtual lock to win it but is ineligible after he was ruled out for the season because of a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis in February.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Atlanta Hawks wing Dyson Daniels are finalists for the award.

Mobley had a breakout season, becoming an All-Star for the first time and likely earning his first All-NBA selection while averaging 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Green helped the Warriors' resurgence down the stretch after the team acquired Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline. Green finished with at least one block and one steal per game for the seventh time in his career.

Meanwhile, Daniels led the league with 229 steals.

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, who made his first All-Star team this season, is one of the three finalists for the Most Improved Player award. The other two are LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Daniels, who took on a much bigger role this season with the Hawks after he was acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in the Dejounte Murray trade last summer.

Zubac set career highs in virtually every category this season, including points (16.8) and rebounds (12.6). Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds.

Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick in last June's NBA draft, San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle and Memphis Grizzlies guard Jaylen Wells are finalists for the Rookie of the Year award.

Risacher averaged 12.6 points, and Castle averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists. Wells, a second-round pick, started for most of the season before suffering a season-ending broken wrist earlier this month in a game against the Charlotte Hornets.

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard joins Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome and Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley as finalists for the Sixth Man of the Year award.

Pritchard was one of the most consistent players for the defending champion Celtics this season, averaging 14.3 points and shooting 40.7% from 3. Beasley averaged 16,4 points and was the only player in the top 20 in 3-point attempts per game to shoot over 40%, hitting 41.6% this season. Jerome, who played in only two games last season because of injuries, had a stellar season off the bench, averaging 12.5 points while shooting 51.6% overall and 43.9% from 3-point range.

The Coach of the Year finalists have an interesting wrinkle. Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson and the man he replaced in Cleveland -- Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff -- are two of the three finalists. The other is Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka.

All three teams vastly outperformed their preseason expectations. Cleveland won its first 15 games and led the Eastern Conference from wire to wire, winning 64 games -- the second most in franchise history. Detroit more than tripled its win total from last season -- a first in NBA history. And Houston went from missing the play-in last year to being the second seed in the loaded Western Conference with a young roster.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson joins Jokic and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards as finalists for the Clutch Player of the Year award.

The NBA will announce the individual award winners -- and the selections for the All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie teams -- over the next couple of weeks.

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles began Sunday with right-hander Charlie Morton making his fifth start since signing a one-year $15-million contract for the sixth club of his 18-season major league career.

It ended with position players on the mound for the final two innings of a humbling 24-2 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds that epitomized just how shaky starting pitching has been for Baltimore amid elevated expectations.

HOUSTON -- San Diego Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez was carted off after colliding with Mauricio Dubon on a play at first base in the first inning of Sunday night's game against the Houston Astros.

According to the Padres, Arraez was transported to Houston Methodist Hospital for further evaluation, and he was stable, conscious, responsive and able to move his extremities.

During an in-game interview with ESPN's Buster Olney on Sunday Night Baseball, Padres manager Mike Shildt said that Arraez has "a little bit of a cut on the jaw," and that the club is "worried about the jaw, the stability of that."

Arraez hit a drag bunt on the first pitch of his at-bat, grounding it down the first-base line to Christian Walker, who flipped it to second baseman Dubon, who ran over to cover first. As Dubon covered the base, he collided with Arraez, who appeared to hit Dubon's arm or elbow with his face.

Both players hit the ground, but Arraez took the worst of it, lying motionless in foul territory next to first base as trainers and coaches from both teams came out to tend to him.

Dubon and Walker, as well as Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, stood and watched as Arraez was placed on a backboard and carted out of the stadium. As he was being placed on the cart, Arraez put his arm around San Diego manager Mike Shildt.

Arraez entered hitting .287 on the season with three home runs and seven RBIs. He is in his second season with the club, after being dealt to San Diego by the Miami Marlins last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

"She makes me work for every point. It was hard to get the win," said the Belarusian of Paolini, 29. "I was just trying to stay aggressive, to put as much pressure on her."

Sabalenka has won all three of her previous meetings with world number 24 Ostapenko.

The 27-year-old Latvian, who upset world number two Swiatek in the quarter-final, comfortably overcame unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 6-4 in her last-four tie.

Elsewhere, Elina Svitolina picked up her first title in nearly two years with a 6-4 7-6 (10-8) win over Serbian Olga Danilovic in the final of the ATP event in Rouen.

The Ukrainian, who returned to competing two months ago after taking maternity leave, last won a title in Strasbourg in 2023.

"I feel confident about my game," said Svitolina, who did not drop a set all week.

"I trust my game. When I play well, it's difficult to beat me. I have to keep a very strong mindset and keep fighting."

The first set in Barcelona was a high-quality encounter between two players born just six days apart and who have been playing one another since their teens.

Alcaraz broke first, thumping his forehand with increasing ferocity, but Rune was equally impressive to immediately force the match back on serve.

Both aggressive baseliners, Alcaraz and Rune sent the ball thudding around Pista Rafael Nadal, but Rune was superior at the net, winning 12 of 16 points there.

Monte Carlo champion Alcaraz fended off four set points but a long forehand in the tie-break handed the initiative to Rune.

Again, Alcaraz had his chances, missing two break points in Rune's first service game. But at 2-1 up, he left the court for a medical timeout, and could not find his rhythm on his return.

Rune reeled off the next five games, committing 24 unforced errors to Alcaraz's 33, and ultimately secured victory on a missed Alcaraz forehand.

The pair are set to play in the Madrid Masters, which begins on Tuesday.

In the men's doubles final, Britain's Luke Johnson and Dutch partner Sander Arends triumphed 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 10-6 against Britis pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.