Carlos Alcaraz passes ‘test of fire’, Aryna Sabalenka survives Madrid Open. tennis news

Carlos Alcaraz passed the “test of fire” to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Open with a straight sets victory over Thiago Seboth Wild on Sunday, while Aryna Sabalenka stopped teenager Robin Montgomery from advancing in three sets. Double defending champion Alcaraz lost 6-3, 6-3 and will face last year’s runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff in the next round after another impressive performance before applauding fans on home soil. World number three Alcaraz, 20, missed Madrid a month ago with an arm injury but returned to beat Alexander Shevchenko in the second round and looks in good shape ahead of the French Open, the second Grand Slam tournament of the season. Have been.

Still wearing a protective sleeve on his right arm, he had too much to do for Seboth Wild, who ousted 28th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

“Maybe today I was a little nervous about how it would be, Thiago hit the ball so hard, I didn’t know how the forearm would hold up,” Alcaraz said on the court.

“Today was a litmus test, no discomfort, feels great… from here, we’ll just get better.”

After taking two breaks in a solid first set, Alcaraz picked up the pace in the second set, taking breaks in the second and fourth games to take a 5–0 lead.

Seaboth Wild fought for a hold and a break to save some pride, but Alcaraz won on serve when the Brazilian went long.

“I was very comfortable on the court, moving, hitting the ball, like I always say it’s not easy to finish the game, it’s nerve-wracking,” Alcaraz said.

German fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, the 2018 and 2021 Madrid champion, advanced to the last 16 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

Andrey Rublev came back from 5-0 down in the first set tie-break to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 in a tense match.

The world number eight saved five set points to stun his opponent ahead of a similarly tough encounter.

Rublev took a 5–4 lead with a shot which the Spaniard chose to miss because he felt it was long, but Hawk-Eye showed it was by a whisker.

Sabalenka pushed

Among women, world number two Sabalenka defeated 19-year-old Montgomery 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 in a battle that lasted two and a half hours.

The big-hitting Belarusian started her Madrid title defense slowly with a three-set win over Magda Linette in the second round and was tested again after winning the first set easily.

Sabalenka broke twice to lead 5–1 against Montgomery, who composed herself and fought well in the final game, saving three set points before Sabalenka sealed it.

The American player scored two aces in the first game of the second set, which showed that she would not concede defeat to the two-time Grand Slam champion.

Sabalenka survived two set points in a thrilling tie-break before 183rd-ranked Montgomery forced a deciding set.

The 25-year-old Australian Open champion was broken in the second game but Montgomery quickly broke back.

Sabalenka held three match points in the 10th and final game, taking the first when Montgomery hit a shot into the net.

“I’m very happy with the win, she played incredible tennis,” Sabalenka said on the court.

“I expected something like that, he’s young, I watched his game and I was ready for a great fight.”

World number four Elena Rybakina defeated Egypt’s Mayer Sherif 6-1, 6-4 to reach the last 16.

The Kazakh, who has won three titles this season after winning in Stuttgart last week, broke twice in the first set and raced to a 5-0 lead on Spanish clay before taking a close second leg.

Rybakina will face teenager Sara Bjelek in the next round after the Czech defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-1.

Mira Andreeva defeated Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7–5, 6–1 to return to the last 16 for the second consecutive year.

The Russian, who turned 17 on Monday, won 25 points to nine in the second set against the Czech Republic’s world number seven.

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