World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2 to reach the Madrid Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Spaniard, who also beat Zverev in last season’s Madrid final, gained revenge for the German’s triumph when they met later in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals.
Two-time Madrid winner Zverev, 26, was blown away in the opening set. He improved a little in the second but not sufficiently to trouble Alcaraz, who moved his opponent around at will.
Zverev zipped past Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 in the third round, appearing to find form after the ankle injury he suffered last year, but lacked rhythm and was exposed by a razor-sharp Alcaraz.
The US Open champion dropped just two points in the first set in his near-immaculate service games, and put strong pressure on the German’s serve.
Meanwhile, world No 3 Daniil Medvedev crashed out against Russian compatriot Aslan Karatsev, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
The second seed in the Spanish capital has admitted he struggles on clay and fell to another defeat against Karatsev on the dirt, as he did in Rome two seasons ago.
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