Posted by On Friday, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori in straight sets to advance to the Buenos Aires clay-court competition semifinals.
Playing in his first tournament since an unexpected quarterfinal exit at the Australian Open, world number two Alcaraz defeated his opponent 7-6 (7/1), 6-1.
Vavassori, who at the Madrid Masters last year upset three-time major champion Andy Murray on clay, matched the Spanish player blow for blow in the opening set.
But after an hour and forty minutes on the court, Alcaraz stormed to a 5-0 lead in the second set and won.
Alcaraz remarked, “He played at such a high level in the first set.”
Returning his serve in such difficult windy circumstances was rather difficult. In the second set, though, I believe I performed better.
“I think that made the difference, as his level dropped a little bit and he also made some mistakes with his serve.”
The 20-year-old Spanish player will compete for a spot in Sunday’s championship final against either Nicolas Jarry of Chile or Tomas Etcheverry of Argentina, who is ranked sixth.
In the other semi-final, Federico Coria and Facundo Diaz will square off as an all-Argentine match.