Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-final stage of the Olympic tennis tournament in Paris. The second-seeded Spaniard gave six games to Russian Roman Safiulin, playing under a neutral flag, for the final 6-4, 6-2.
The match lasted exactly an hour and a half, and Alcaraz wasted no time on the court and saved energy for the doubles match later that evening with Rafael Nadal. The Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion pulled away with two breaks at the start of the first set. Safiulin returned one break, but until the end of the set, he did not get an opportunity to return the second break either. In the second part, Alcaraz made two breaks and was even more convincing to find a place in the last eight of the tournament without losing a set. Earlier, he defeated Hadi Habib of Lebanon and Talon Griekspor of the Netherlands.
In contention for a spot in the semifinals, Alcaraz will play Tommy Paul. The ninth-seeded American eliminated host Corentin Mute in straight sets.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti also qualified for the quarter-finals, where he awaits the winner of the match between Tokyo Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Alexey Popirin of Australia. | BGNES
