Rome, May 12: Carlos Alcaraz pulled through to a 7-6(2), 6-2 triumph against Laslo Djere to reach the fourth round at the Italian ATP Masters 1000 for the first time.
Alcaraz, who also defeated Djere in April en route to the final in Barcelona, converted four of nine break points he earned in an ultimately comfortable one-hour, 44-minute victory, ATP reports.
With his Tour-leading 26th win of the season, the 22-year-old booked a fourth-round meeting with 23rd seed Karen Khachanov, who earlier sunk home favourite Francesco Passaro 6-3, 6-0.
Alcaraz was slow to get going on Campo Centrale, but he dug deep before accelerating past an opponent, who struggled with a right arm injury for much of the match, and produced a classy tie-break, highlighted by a stunning forehand slice winner from a seemingly impossible position to wrap up the opening set.
Djere received treatment from the physio on his troublesome arm, but the injury began to affect the Serbian. He quickly fell a double-break behind, and Alcaraz was quick to wrap up a win.
Alcaraz will hope to build on solid-yet-unspectacular start in Rome after he missed Madrid due to an adductor injury.
If Alcaraz can defeat Khachanov on Tuesday, he will complete the set of reaching the quarter-finals at all nine Masters 1000 events. Alcaraz currently leads the 23rd seed 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head-to-Head series.
Defending champion
Zverev advances
Defending champion Alexander Zverev advanced by beating Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas in straight sets.
No. 2-ranked Zverev won 6-4, 6-0 in the third-round match in Rome and will play France’s Arthur Fils next.
Fils beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Bopanna-Pavlasek advance
Veteran Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Czech partner Adam Pavlasek advanced to the second round of the men’s doubles event.
Bopanna and Pavlaski stunned sixth seeded pair of New Zealand’s Michael Venus and Croatia’s Nikola Mektic 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-4 to progress to the next round.
Bopanna and Pavlaski will next face Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in the next round.
But it was heartbreak for another Indian Yuki Bhambri. Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-6, 2-6 against fourth seeded pair of Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos on Sunday. (Agencies)
