Carlos Alcaraz Powers Into Rio Quarterfinals

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Carlos Alcaraz Powers Into Rio Quarterfinals
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Friday, February 24, 2023 3:27pm PST USA

Rio de Janerio-- Thursday at the Rio Open presented by Claro in round two, the top seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain took 3-0 leads in all three sets versus the clay court veteran Fabio Fognini of Italy before struggling to a 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-4 win.

In set one the 19 year old Alcaraz delivered more errors than normal for him and struggled with the 35 year old Fognini's mix of high topspin moon balls and lower flat groundstrokes.

However in the following set, Alcaraz reduced his errors to level the match at one set all.

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain

Carlos Alcaraz took 3-0 leads in all three sets before struggling to a 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-4 win.

Serving to begin the final set at deuce, Fognini netted two consecutive backhands to drop serve.

Alcaraz held serve to stretch his lead to 2-0.

Then with Fognini serving at 15-30, Alcaraz struck a crosscourt backhand passing shot winner to reach breakpoint.

The Italian double faulted to lose serve and trail 3-0 before winning the following two games to reach 3-2.

With no additional breaks of serve, Alcaraz served for the match at 5-4.

Fognini, perhaps tired physically after an extended match, struck three backhand errors to face match point before Alcaraz closed out the match after two hours and 47 minutes of play.