ITALY: Carlos Alcaraz found his best level when he needed it most on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
The No 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings delivered an up-and-down fourth-round performance at the clay ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, but his peaks proved enough to secure a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory against Karen Khachanov. Alcaraz let slip a break lead in both the second and third sets, including four straight games from 6-3, 3-2 up, but recovered in time to maintain his perfect ATP Head2Head record against Khachanov.
“It feels amazing to get the win at the end against a really big and really tough guy like Khachanov,” said Alcaraz. “Physically I struggled a bit. Not any pain on any part of the body, but I was just tired. The match was really tough. I had to run a lot, so I’m just really proud of the way I fought for every ball.
With his two-hour, 29-minute win, Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time, and he has now reached that stage at all nine Masters 1000 events. The 22-year-old is the first Spaniard to make the last eight in Rome since record 10-time champion Rafael Nadal in 2021. Jaume Munar could make it two Spaniards in the 2025 quarter-finals later on Tuesday by defeating Casper Ruud.
Now 26-5 for 2025, including a 12-1 record on clay, Alcaraz will take on fifth seed Jack Draper in the semi-final after the in-form Briton rallied past Corentin Moutet 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. It will be a clash between the first and second-placed players in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Alcaraz leads 3-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, but Draper won their most recent meeting in March en route to the title in Indian Wells.