Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday overcame a second-set wobble to defeat Laslo Djere 6-2, 6-4 and reach the Barcelona Open quarter-finals.
The world No. 2 stepped up a gear from his first-round win over Ethan Quinn to dispatch his 80th-ranked opponent on the Catalan clay as he prepares for his French Open title defense.
Alcaraz, who triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, has had an inconsistent start to the year and in March fell at the first hurdle at the Miami Open.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Home favorite Alcaraz saved both break points he faced in a first-set stroll, with Djere unable to produce a single winner to the Spaniard’s eight.
The four-time Grand Slam winner won five games straight to claim a 5-1 first-set lead and sealed it with his second set point.
In the second set, Djere offered more of a fight and even broke for a 4-2 lead, but Alcaraz bounced back quickly.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Djere could not handle the Spaniard in full flow and crumbled away as Alcaraz won the final four games to triumph, sealing his win when the Serb pushed a shot into the net.
“After going 4-2 down in the second, I played a bit more like what my level is,” Alcaraz said. “I am very happy that I could step up my level and seem more like my best, and I want to continue.”
Alcaraz was to face world No. 7 Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals yesterday after the Australian eased to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jacob Fearnley in just over an hour.
“It’s very positive for the tournament that all the favorites are in the quarter-finals,” Alcaraz said. “I don’t know if it’s more or less difficult than in previous years, but it’s going to be a battle from now on.”
Briton Fearnley, competing on the red dirt for the first time this week, made 28 unforced errors and was unable to convert either of his two break points.
The Scot got into the main draw as a lucky loser, but was able to earn his first win on clay against Roberto Carballes Baena in the first round.
Earlier, in-form Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated world No. 8 Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4.
The Spaniard, ranked 30th, had never beaten the Russian before, but triumphed at the sixth time of asking in straight sets.
Monte Carlo semi-finalist Davidovich Fokina broke three times in a topsy-turvy first set, with Rublev twice reacting before the Malaga native held to love in the 12th game.
Rublev went a break down in the first game of the second set, but despite securing one of his own for 2-2, he was once again broken as Davidovich Fokina took a 5-4 lead and then served out for the match, again to love.
Spain’s Jaume Munar came up short against Karen Khachanov, who also won 7-5, 6-4, and was to face Davidovich Fokina.
The Russian, who trains in Barcelona, only converted four of 15 break points, but eventually put the battling Munar to bed.
Defending champion Casper Ruud was to face Holger Rune and last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas was to take on the exciting Arthur Fils in yesterday’s other quarter-finals.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS