BARCELONA: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday with a 6-3, 7-5 win over fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Alcaraz pulled out of the recent Monte Carlo Masters with back and hand problems and struggled at times against the veteran Spaniard as he continues to warm up for the French Open in May.
The victory improved Alcaraz to 9-1 against fellow Spaniards, with his only loss coming to Rafael Nadal in last year’s Indian Wells semis. The teenager is bidding to become the first player to defend his crown at the ATP 500 since the Spanish legend reigned from 2016-18.
Top seed Alcaraz breezed past Nuno Borges on Tuesday but found it much tougher going in the last 16 amid windy conditions as he continued his Barcelona title defence on the court named after Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam champion is not playing in Barcelona because of a hip injury and announced earlier he will not be fit to take part in the Madrid Masters next week either.
US Open champion Alcaraz will face another Spaniard, 10th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in Friday’s quarterfinals. Davidovich Fokina defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 7-5.
Stefanos Tsitsipas also reached the last-eight stage by defeating Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2.
The second-seeded Greek saved both break points he faced against the Canadian to move to 18-5 for the season.
“I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline,” Tsitsipas said. “Against Denis you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn’t easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision making. It was a good day.”
Tsitsipas will next face Alex de Minaur, who advanced with a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov.
The fifth-ranked Tsitsipas is making his fifth appearance in Barcelona, having lost in the final to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021. He lost in this year’s Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic.
Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner overcame a second-set letdown to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and reach his seventh quarterfinal of the season.
The Italian broke Nishioka’s serve three consectuvie times to close out the third set in a match that lasted more than two hours.
Sinner moved to 26-6 for the season, having reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo. The eighth-ranked Italian will next face compatriot Lorenzo Musetti who beat seventh-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Agencies
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