The America's Cup opens the semifinal stage after the elimination of the French

The America's Cup final is getting closer, and the phases to define the team that will dispute it with the New Zealanders are advancing. After the Orient Express Racing Team became the first to be eliminated from the competition on Monday in the round robin stage, this Saturday the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals begin. This trophy is the prelude to the America's Cup: winning it is equivalent to a pass to the final of the One Hundred Guineas Jug competition, in which Emirates Team New Zealand already has its place secured, as defender of the trophy.

The phase that starts this Saturday will end on September 19, although if the weather complicates again, the races will be rescheduled until September 23 at the latest, overlapping in that case with Barcelona's main festival, La Mercè, which will bring part of its program to its coastline.

The pairs have been formed not by chance, but by decision of the winner of the round robin phase: Ineos Britannia. By winning in the previous stage, the British have been able to choose their rival in the semifinals, and have opted for the Swiss team, which finished fourth.

With their choice, the other pair has been automatically configured: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and American Magic will compete against each other. In this stage of duels between the four teams, the New Zealanders will not participate from the water; they will only sail for training, and will dedicate themselves to observing the races and their potential opponents.

Within the two pairs of this phase, the team that manages to win five races first will be proclaimed winner —a maximum of nine will be disputed per pair—, and the loser of each duel will be eliminated, so two teams will be out of the competition when this phase ends.

Then will come the Louis Vuitton Cup final, which will be disputed from September 26 to October 5. From it, then, will emerge the New Zealanders' opponent for the America's Cup, who will try to snatch from the current defender what is the oldest trophy in the world.