Sawt Falasteen - Alcaraz earns Zverev revenge to reach Madrid Open quarters

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 quarter-finals.

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.

Alcaraz converted his third break point to take a 2-0 lead in the 11-minute second game, before wresting another from Zverev for 5-1.

The 13th seed hit the net with a cross-court backhand to hand Alcaraz the first set.

The duo traded blows on serve at the start of the second set before Alcaraz carved out a break for 3-2 when Zverev sent a forehand return wide.

Alcaraz consolidated and then broke for a 5-2 lead with a neat forehand down the line.

Having wobbled in his opener against Finnish player Emil Ruusuvuori, Alcaraz stayed focused throughout and sealed his progression when Zverev batted a return long.

Alcaraz, who turns 20 on Friday, is aiming for his 10th tour-level title after defending the Barcelona Open in April.

In the last eight, the Murcian will face Karen Khachanov who dispatched Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev 7-6 (10/8), 6-4.

World number three 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.

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST