After two comfortable victories, Carlos Alcaraz was put to the test at the Madrid Open.
The two-time defending champion, who is coming off a right forearm injury, needed nearly three hours to defeat 24th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) in a rematch of last year’s final in the Spanish capital.
The second-seeded Alcaraz squandered four match points while serving for victory at 5-3, but converted on his first opportunity to seal the victory in the deciding tiebreak at the Caja Magica centre court.
“I wasn’t at my best physically toward the end of the match, but I’m happy that in the end I found my game,” Alcaraz said. “I fought for every ball and didn’t let down despite some difficult moments when things didn’t go my way.”
Alcaraz is trying to become the first player to win three straight Madrid Open titles. He also needed three sets to beat Struff in last year’s final. The world No. 3 will next face seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev at the claycourt tournament.
Top-seeded Jannick Sinner defeated 16th-seeded Karen Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3 to reach the Madrid quarter-finals for the first time. He is the only player to make it to the last eight at all four ATP 1000 events this season.
“I think today was really tough, because at some points he served really well, so it was tough to return,” Sinner said. “I made a couple of mistakes in the first set when he broke me, but this can happen. In the second set I tried to stay focused immediately, I broke him, and the confidence level raised a bit.”
Francisco Cerundolo, ranked 22nd, upset two-time champion Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 for his third career win over a top-five player. Cerundolo has Taylor Fritz next after the American defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev was given the runaround by Alexander Bublik before winning 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
“A lot of drop shots, and I got so tired in the end running for them,” Medvedev said. “That’s when you lose your concentration and you start to play a bit worse. That’s what happened, but after the match he told me he was dead also. So, good for me, at least I was not the only one.”
Medvedev will next play either record five-time champion Rafael Nadal or 30th-seeded Jiri Lehecka.