No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain continued his quest to become the first player to win three straight Mutua Madrid Open titles with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over unseeded Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil on Sunday.
The 20-year-old broke Seyboth Wild twice in each set, jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second and closed out the match in 75 minutes to reach the fourth round.
Alcaraz, the World No. 3 player, again wore a compression sleeve on his right arm after missing the Barcelona Open earlier this month due to an injury. But the two-time major winner had no trouble cruising to victory.
“I think I played at a really good level,” Alcaraz said. “Coming into this match, I was nervous a little bit because I didn’t know how my forearm was going to be.
“Thiago has big shots. He is really strong. I am really happy with the performance. It was difficult a little bit at the end, at 5-0 and then serving at 5-3. I am really happy to get it at the end.”
Alcaraz will next face No. 23 seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in a rematch of last year’s final. Struff knocked off No. 13 seed Ugo Humber of France 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday.
“I hope it goes like last year’s final. We know the player he is and the level he has,” said Alcaraz. “We are going to have to get our act together and give 100 percent. It will be a slightly uncomfortable match to play, but I think the people are going to enjoy it.”
Russian Andrey Rublev, the No. 7 seed, dispatched No. 27 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-6 (10), 6-4. No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland also prevailed in straight sets, disposing of unseeded German Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 7-6 (2).
No. 24 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands pulled off an upset of Denmark’s Holger Rune, the 11th seed, with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory. Griekspoor will face Rublev in the fourth round.
American Taylor Fritz, seeded 12th, rolled to a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 18 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina in just over an hour. Fritz’s next opponent will be Hurkacz.
Fritz’s countryman, No. 15 seed Tommy Paul, fell to Baez’s countryman, No. 21 seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2.
In the late match, No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany faced Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
–Field Level Media
