World number two Carlos Alcaraz upset 86th-ranked Fabio Fognini of Italy in a thriller on Thursday to move to the quarter-finals of the ATP Rio Open.
The 19-year-old Spanish sensation came back after dropping the first set, going on to win 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4.
“It’s a challenge confronting a guy like Fabio. He’s a superb player with a lot of talent,” Alcaraz remarked after the intense clay-court clash.
“You never know what he could have in store for you.”
Fognini, a 35-year-old veteran with nine singles championships, was down 3-0 to the reigning champion in the first set, before roaring back with a succession of superb skirmishes.
He broke Alcaraz’s serve to equalize at 5-5, then won the set in a tie-breaker.
But Alcaraz surged back in the second, going up 4-0, and kept his momentum into the third set to claim the match.
The stunning show got the audience at the stadium court heated up.
“You electrified both Fabio and me from the start, thank you very much,” Alcaraz told the crowd.
“We had a tremendous match. I’m quite delighted I managed to win.”
Alcaraz will play the winner of an all-Serbian duel in the quarter-finals Friday: either 57th-ranked Laslo Djere or 80th-ranked Dusan Lajovic.
Alcaraz, who returned last week after a four-month injury hiatus, is seeking to recapture the magic he unleashed last year in Brazil.
Then, he won the Rio Open on his way to stacking up five championships, including the US Open, and becoming the youngest-ever world number one in the ATP rankings – a status he has since lost to Novak Djokovic after suffering injuries.
Alcaraz launched his championship defence in Rio by winning a tougher-than-expected, rain-delayed match against 556th-ranked Mateus Alves of Brazil Wednesday.
He made his 2023 debut last week by winning his seventh career ATP championship at the Argentina Open.
