The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, number two in the world, beat the Italian Fabio Fognini (86 ATP) 6-7 (5), 6-2 and 6-4 this Thursday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Rio de Janeiro Open , the only ATP 500 tournament in South America and of which he was champion last year, after a tough duel between Europeans.
The 19-year-old tennis player from Murcia, first favorite in Brazil, had difficulties against the Italian in the first set, who ended up losing due to errors in basic plays, but from the second set he showed his best tennis so far and completely dominated.
The world number one until recently and who was champion of the Argentina Open on Sunday after four months out due to injury ended up benefiting from a sprained ankle that the man from San Remo suffered when he was losing 4-1 in the second set and that he was annoyed by the rest of the game, which lasted for two hours and 47 minutes.
This was the second match between the two tennis players. In the first, last year also in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz won 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Brazilian tournament.
The current US Open champion thus confirmed his hegemony over Fognini, 35, who was a finalist at the Rio Open in 2015 after beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
In the quarterfinals, the Spaniard will have to face on Friday the winner of the duel between the Serbs Laslo Djere (57 ATP), who was champion in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, and Dusan Lajovic (80 ATP), who eliminated in the first round the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, fifth favorite and who was champion in Brazil in 2018.
Alcaraz broke the Italian's first serve in the first set and quickly opened up a 3-1 lead, but Fognini responded in kind and, with a down the line, cut the lead to 3-2.
The Murcian, at the point of force, prevented the Italian from taking advantage of his serve to tie and, after breaking his serve and confirming his own, opened a partial 5-2 lead.
But the veteran from San Remo gathered strength to break the Spanish three serves in a row, come back and take a partial advantage of 6-5.
When Fognini already seemed to celebrate his victory in the first set, the world number two gave a show of vitality and with a climb into the net he managed to break the rival's serve, prevent him from winning and tie 6-6.
In the tiebreaker, despite having a 4-2 advantage, the Murcian failed in basic plays and allowed the Italian to win 7-5 and win the first set 7-6.
Alcaraz took advantage of the break to regain concentration and when he returned to the court for the second round, he quickly broke Fognini's first two serves and confirmed his own to open a 4-0 lead.
The Italian immediately suffered a slight twist in his ankle when he tried to respond to a ball that the Spaniard dropped close to the net and, despite the fact that he did not seek medical attention, a decline in his performance from that moment on was clear.
Alcaraz only had to confirm his services to win the second round 6-2 and tie the game.
In the third set, still fueled by his good momentum and with plays in which he showed his strength and vitality, the Spaniard broke Fognini's first two serves and opened a partial 3-1 lead, which he held until the end, to win the sleeve by 6-4.
The other tennis players who have already guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals in Rio are the British Cameron Norrie (13 ATP), second favorite in Brazil; the Spaniards Albert Ramos Viñolas (47 ATP) and Bernabé Zapata (63 ATP), the Argentine Sebastián Báez (35 ATP), the Chilean Nicolás Jarry (139 ATP) and the Bolivian Hugo Dellien (111 ATP).
The ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, which takes place on the clay courts of the Brazilian Jockey Club and distributes prizes of 2.2 million dollars, is part of the tour on clay in South America, which began with the Córdoba Open and the Argentina Open, and concludes next week with the ATP 250 in Santiago (Chile).
