Carlos Alcaraz shook off some early cobwebs to break new ground at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday night in Rome.
The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings 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. In his second Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Djere in the space of four weeks, 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.
“It was a really tough beginning, honestly, to find a good rhythm, to find the good path in the match,” said Alcaraz. “He played really solid in the first set. I didn’t find the way to [stop him], that’s how tough it was at the beginning. He was serving for the first set and I just thought that I had to stay there, mentally strong, and wait for my chances… I was just happy to get the first set.
“In the second set I think I was playing better. He made a few mistakes that I tried to make the most of, and I am really happy.”
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. 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 will hope to build on his solid-yet-unspectacular start in Rome after he missed Madrid due to an adductor injury.
“I was trying to come back from the injury as good as I can and then I got a cold,” said Alcaraz, who wore a nasal strip against Djere, as he had in his opening-round win against Dusan Lajovic. “But once you are on the court you try not to think about those things and just keep going. Sometimes it is difficult, but it’s great having matches in straight sets to save energy for the next matches.”
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 Head2Head series.
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