Alcaraz Advances Past RBA, Meets ADF In QFs Fri in Barcelona; Tsitsipas Wins

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz eased past his countryman Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz is now 20-2 on the season and will now take on another fellow Spaniard in Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

On a windy day, Alcaraz finished 5 of 10 on break chances while he was broken five times by the veteran. But Bautista Agut managed to win just 19/42 (45%) on first serve points.

Bautista Agut was the first to get a lead at 3-2 in the first but the break didn’t last long. Alcaraz got the early 2-0 edge in the second and eventually broke for 6-5.

“Today was really tough. The conditions, it wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz said to the ATP. “Of course I had to adapt my game from the wind. It was really tough. Roberto’s a great player, a really solid player. I had to stay focussed all the time, be there all the time and try to take my chances.”

The 2nd-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas kept pace with Alcaraz cruising past the 14th-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2.

15th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo shocked (24y,4r) No. 3 Casper Ruud 7-6(7-5), 6-3. Ruud led 5-2 in the first when the former No. 2 fell apart and the Argentine took over winning 11 of the next 15 games.

Elsewhere on Thursday, No. 4 Jannik Sinner got over on No. 16 Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. No. 12 Daniel Evans had a good win over 6th-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4 and No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti bounced No. 7 Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The Friday slate also sees Tsitsipas against Alex De Minaur. The Greek leads 8-0 in that one.

Sinner meets Musetti, Evans collides with Cerundolo.

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