Unsurprisingly, Carlos Alcaraz appears to be immune to the upset bug at the Mutua Madrid Open.
In a rematch of last year’s final, Alcaraz crushed Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2 during fourth-round action on Tuesday afternoon. The 19-year-old Spaniard needed only one hour and 22 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash against Karen Khachanov.
The 2022 title match saw Alcaraz erase Zverev by a similar 6-3, 6-1 decision in just one hour and two minutes. He was arguably even better on Tuesday.
“For me it’s amazing to play the level that I played today,” the world No. 2 said afterward. “This result isn’t normal for me, but I played great. I feel very, very good right now. This match gives me a lot of confidence…. I just want to enjoy playing here in the Caja Magica in front of my home crowd; I just want to enjoy every moment.”
It is an otherwise surprising quarterfinal lineup so far at the Madrid Masters. Fourth-round winners earlier in the day were Khachanov, qualifier Aslan Karatsev, and lucky loser Daniel Altmaier. Khachanov took out doubles partner Andrey Rublev, another all-Russian affair resulted in Karatsev upsetting Daniil Medvedev, and Altmaier beat Jaume Munar in an all-unseeded matchup.
At least one other unseeded player will be in the quarterfinals, as Pedro Cachin is going up against lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff later on Tuesday.
nice one, Carlos