Quick and easy: Tuesday brought the eighth round of the ATP tournament in Madrid

The Madrid Masters had a full men’s eight-final on Tuesday. Alcaraz and Tsitsipas secured their participation among the top eight tennis players. However, there are some unexpected names in the quarterfinals.

The opening match brought a duel between two unseeded players. The home Spaniard Munar and the German Altmaier had a chance to improve on their most valuable result of the year. Daniel Altmaier did not lose his serve once in the match and advanced after 6-3, 6-0 sets. The German is making the most of the chance he got as a lucky loser after his defeat in qualifying.

Carlos Alcaraz and his journey through the tournament

Carlos Alcaraz continues to play in style. Against the German Zverev, he probably had the most work to do with a break at 2: 0. This game lasted 11 minutes, almost half the duration of the first set. The darling of the home crowd showed again some good stoppages, the serve-volley system was also on display and there were plenty of winning shots throughout the match. Especially the Spanish ones. Alcaraz advanced to the quarterfinals after a smooth 6:1, 6:2 victory.

Alcaraz’s opponent was decided early in the afternoon in the Russian derby. Karen Khachanov and the favored Andrey Rublyov faced off. Both tennis players guarded their serve very reliably and the first set could not boast even one break point. The favourite of the match had a solid lead in the tiebreak, but he did not convert it into a set win. Khachanov won the shortened game at 10::8.

The second set soon brought a break point by Khachanov and even a break point was used after an error by Rublyov at the net. The world No. 6 player responded by throwing his racket furiously on the ground. At that point, he was far from being the favourite of the match. Which was confirmed, next up is Khachanov after a 7-6, 6::4 win.

Another Russian derby

In the second Russian derby on Tuesday, the favourite was clear. Daniil Medvedev is one of the most interesting names of the whole event in Spain, even if he is not a clay lover. Advancing to the quarterfinals would improve on his top performance here last year. His rival today, Aslan Karacev, was one of the most pleasant surprises of the first week of the Madrid tournament.

And the 29-year-old Karacev continues in that vein. Just like in the Russians’ first match, the paper favourite lost. The course was partly similar. Karacev won the first set in a tiebreak and the second set 6::4.

Surprise quarter-finalist and other duels

The longest match of the day was played by the two seeded players. Croatian Borna Coric and home player Davidovich Fokina. Almost three and a half hours long, the Croatian decided the match for himself in the tiebreak of the third set, when his piggy bank helped him in the decisive moments.

The big story is being written in Madrid by Zhang Zhen. With his victory over American Fritz, he not only reached his best, but also became the first Chinese to advance so far in a Masters tournament. He won Tuesday’s match in sets 3::6, 7::6, 7::6.

Germany’s 33-year-old Struff and the tournament’s number four seed Stefanos Tsisipas will also play each other in the quarter-finals, with the Greek the second highest seed at the moment.

Source: ATP