Defending champion Alcaraz runs away from Vavassori to reach semis in Buenos Aires

Carlos Alcaraz rolled his Buenos Aires title defence forward on Friday in the Argentinian capital, moving into the semi-finals of the Argentina Open by beating Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (1), 6-1 at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

The 20-year-old Spaniard improves to 6-0 lifetime in Buenos Aires, and 66-14 overall on clay, with his sixth victory of 2024.

It was a very close contest until the first-set tiebreak, with each player earning – and failing to convert – on a single break point. But in the tiebreak Alcaraz raced out to win the first six point and he changed the complexion of the match from there.

“In the first set he played such a high level,” Alcaraz said. “It was really tough to return his serve and it was tough conditions with the wind changing directions. I played better in the second set, and his level went down a bit.”

Alcaraz improves to 13-1 in clay-court quarter-finals for his career. The worldNo 2, will play the winner of the match between Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the No 3 seed, and Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the No 6 seed, next.

If given a choice, he said he’d rather play Jarry.

“I don’t to face another Argentinian guy here in Buenos Aires,” he said with a smile.

The 20-year-old Spaniard won against Argentinian qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli (6-2, 7-5) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Buenos Aires Open, Vavassori, ranked No 152, defeated Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (6-3, 6-1) and Serb Laslo Djere, the No 7 seed (6-4, 7-5).

Buenos Aires ATP 250, other last 8 results (Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, clay, USD 642.615, most recent results first):

• Nicolas Jarry vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Federico Coria beat Sebastian Baez (5): 6-1, 6-4
• Facundo Diaz Acosta (WC) beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-4, 6-3

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