Alcaraz into the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open

Alcaraz won nine out of 10 meetings with fellow countrymen. The only time he lost was to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters last year. Alcaraz has the opportunity to become the first person to defend the Barcelona Open title since Nadal in 2018.

"The conditions were not easy today," Alcaraz said of the high winds in Barcelona that cost him and Bautista Agut a total of eight serves. "I tried to adapt and focus on each ball. I just tried to take advantage of every little opportunity."

Alcaraz met another Spaniard in the quarterfinals, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. If going forward, the 19-year-old could meet Francisco Cerundolo or Dan Evans in the semi-finals. In the other bracket, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas are potential candidates waiting for Alcaraz in the final.

The biggest surprise in the third round was the fact that third seed Casper Ruud was eliminated after just two sets against Cerundolo. After last year's sublime season, Ruud has been down in form this season. He lost seven or eight of the 20 games he played, won only one title at Estoril and was regularly eliminated early in major tournaments.

At the ATP 250 Srpska Open, Novak Djokovic will play the quarter-final against Dusan Lajovic at 8 pm today, Hanoi time. The number one tennis player in the world won his compatriots in the previous two meetings, aiming for his 18th victory this season.

Djokovic has won two titles since the start of the year, both in Australia in January. Nole's biggest opponent at the Srpska Open is second seed Andrey Rublev, who won the Monte Carlo Masters last week.