Rio Open: Lajovic beats Djere; aims to halt Alcaraz Express in quarter-finals next

Serbian Dusan Lajovic defeated countryman Laslo Djere in straight sets at the Rio Open on Thursday evening to set up a quarter-final clash against top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

Lajovic, ranked No 80 in the world, won 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 19 minutes and will now hope to become the first player to beat the second ranked Spaniard in 2023.

Alcaraz, who won the title here in 2022, survived a three set battle against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini earlier on Thursday to improve to 6-0 after picking up the title in Buenos Aires last week.

Alcaraz holds a 2-0 lead over Lajovic in career head-to-head, including a straight sets win last week in Buenos Aires.

Ahead of his victory, the 32-year-old Lajovic, who was ranked as high as No 23 in the world in 2019, had won against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, the No 5 seed in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.

Rio de Janeiro ATP500, second-round results (Jockey Club Brasileiro, clay, USD 2,013,940, most recent results first):

• Carlos Alcaraz beat Fabio Fognini: 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Sebastian Baez (6) beat Juan Pablo Varillas: 7-5, 7-6 (6)
• Nicolas Jarry (Q) beat Pedro Martinez: 6-2, 6-2
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles beat Francisco Cerundolo (4): 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas (7) beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 6-2, 6-4
• Cameron Norrie (2) beat Thiago Monteiro: 7-5, 7-5
• Hugo Dellien beat Alex Molcan (9): 1-6, 6-2, 6-2

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