Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeated Laslo Djere of Serbia in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open.
Alcaraz, the champion of this tournament in both 2022 and 2023, recovered from a 4-2 deficit in the second set, winning four consecutive games to secure the victory in 71 minutes.
This marks his seventh consecutive win, extending his strong start to the clay court season after his recent victory at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Following his win, Alcaraz stated the importance of winning in straight sets to conserve energy for future matches. He expressed satisfaction with his performance, particularly his ability to regain his high level of play after falling behind in the second set.
British player Jacob Fearnley was defeated by fifth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets, preventing a potential quarter-final match-up against Alcaraz.
De Minaur, ranked No. 7 globally, dominated Fearnley, the British No. 2 (ranked 74th), with a decisive 6-1, 6-2 victory in just 62 minutes.
In other matches, Karen Khachanov overcame Spain`s Jaume Munar in a 7-5, 6-4 match and will face another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in the quarter-finals. Fokina defeated No. 4 seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4.
Gauff Advances, Andreeva Suffers Upset
Ekaterina Alexandrova caused an upset by defeating sixth seed Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-2 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. This is Alexandrova`s fourth victory against a top 10 player this season, while 17-year-old Andreeva struggled with errors and serve consistency.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff of the USA progressed easily to the quarter-finals, defeating Germany`s Ella Seidel 6-1, 6-1 in under an hour. Gauff will compete against fifth seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who defeated another German player, Jule Niemeier, 6-1, 7-5.
Jessica Pegula, the third seed from the USA, also reached the quarter-finals by defeating Poland`s Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-1. Pegula will face Alexandrova in her quarter-final match.
Jelena Ostapenko defeated seventh seed Emma Navarro 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, securing a quarter-final match against Iga Swiatek.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the next round due to a walkover after Anastasia Potapova withdrew due to injury.
