BARCELONA: Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur booked their spots in third round of the Barcelona Open, an ATP500 event, with straight-sets wins on Wednesday.
World No.8 Sinner defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 40 minutes to lead the head-to-head record 3-0.
The Italian has a win-loss record of 25-6 this season which includes a title in Montpellier along with runner-up finishes in Rotterdam and Miami. He also reached the semifinals in Indian Wells and last week’s Masters event in Monte Carlo.
“I think I started very well, especially in return games,” Sinner told atptour.com after the win while adding, “I tried to stay quite aggressive, made a couple of unforced errors, but I have to remind myself that this is the first round for me. I tried to stay calm and obviously try in the best way in important moments.
Fourth-seeded Sinner will face Yoshihito Nishioka next for a place in the quarterfinals. Nishioka, the 16th seed from Japan, knocked out Belgian David Goffin 6-1, 7-5 in the second round.
Eighth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur brushed aside Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-0, 6-1 in just 62 minutes to set up a third-round clash with Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez 6-3, 6-1.
Shapovalov won his second-round match 6-4, 6-3 against Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik. Seventh-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie defeated Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov 6-1, 6-2.
US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz began his title defence at the Barcelona Open, an ATP500 event, with straight-sets win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges on Tuesday.
Top seed Alcaraz, awarded a bye in the opening round, raced to a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Borges in 63 minutes and will next face 13th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut who beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 6-2 in an all-Spanish fixture.
Alcaraz, who has been out of action since his loss to Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open semifinals, is looking to successfully defend a tour-level title for the first time in his career. Due to hand and back problems, he was forced to miss last week’s Monte Carlo Masters. Agencies
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