Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz defeated Italian Fabio Fognini to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Rio Open, continuing his title defence. The 19-year-old Spanish player, who is currently ranked world number two, won the match in a thrilling encounter that lasted for two hours and 47 minutes.
In a rematch of last year’s semi-final, Alcaraz overcame Fognini with a scoreline of 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 victory. The opening set was tightly contested, taking over 64 minutes to finish, with eight breaks of serve. Fognini edged the tie-breaker to win the set.
Alcaraz continued his momentum
After losing the opening set, Alcaraz continued his momentum in the second set, breaking twice to take it to a decider before breaking twice again to seal the match. The young player returned last week from a four-month injury break and is looking to rekindle the magic he unleashed last year in Brazil.
Alcaraz will now face either Laslo Djere or Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals, who are both from Serbia. Djere is currently ranked 57th, while Lajovic is ranked 80th. Alcaraz is hopeful of progressing further in the tournament and has his sights set on reaching the final.
Post-match comments
After the match, Alcaraz spoke about the tough encounter with Fognini. He said, “It was really tough. Both Fabio and I played such a high level, great points, great shots. It’s amazing to play these kinds of matches. I would say both players played almost our 100 per cent.”
Despite struggling with his serve during the match, Alcaraz was happy with his performance. “I got a little bit down in that moment, and it was tough to come back after that. But I know that a tennis match is really long. I was going to have my chances to improve the game on my serve, and I think I did,” he said.
A chance to draw level with Djokovic
Alcaraz won the Argentina Open title last week against Cameron Norrie after only dropping one set throughout the whole competition. He had a chance to draw level with Novak Djokovic on points this week if he successfully defended his Rio title.
However, Djokovic has more points from the ATP Finals, Grand Slams, and ATP Masters 1000s, so Alcaraz will remain second in the rankings.
Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Fabio Fognini in the ATP Rio Open quarter-finals was a thrilling encounter that saw the young Spanish player continue his title defence. With his sights set on the final, Alcaraz will now face either Laslo Djere or Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals.
Despite losing his world number one spot to Djokovic due to injuries, Alcaraz is determined to continue his winning form and make a mark in the tennis world.
