Barcelona Open: Tsitsipas edges Korda to return to quarter-finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 3 seed, beat American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (4), 6-4 to move into the last eight of the Barcelona Open at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.

The Greek – a four-time finalist in Barcelona but never having taken the title – looked sharp throughout what was a strangely serve-dominated contest for a clay-court match.

Both players were defending their serves excellently, and Korda did very little wrong other than let a first-set tiebreak slip and then lose serve early in the second stanza.

Tsitsipas, runner-up here twelve months ago, was in fine fettle. An 85% win rate behind his second serve was particularly impressive and aided in shutting out the American from his service games.

No breaks across the first set led to a fitting tiebreak, and it was the Greek who stepped up when it mattered most, clinching the opener 7-4 in the breaker.

An early break was all he needed to see off the considerable challenge of Korda and return to the last eight in Barcelona for a fifth consecutive year, gaining a measure of revenge against the American after his defeat to him in Miami last month.

Tsitsipas, ranked No 16, will play Frenchman Arthur Fils, the No 7 seed, next.

The Greek won against American Reilly Opelka (6-2, 6-2) ahead of his victory.

In the previous round of the Barcelona tournament, Korda, ranked No 24, defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi (3-6, 6-3, 6-2).

Barcelona ATP 500, other second-round results (Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, clay, EUR 2.889.200, most recent results first):

• Jacob Fearnley vs. Alex De Minaur
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Laslo Djere
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Andrey Rublev
• Jaume Munar vs. Karen Khachanov
• Hamad Medjedovic vs. Casper Ruud
• Holger Rune (6) beat Sebastian Baez: 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Arthur Fils beat Pedro Martinez Portero: 6-3, 6-2