Alcaraz scrapes past Khachanov to reach Rome quarter-finals

Third seed Carlos Alcaraz edged out Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 23 seed, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters at the Foro Italico in Roma on Tuesday.

The Spaniard snatched the vital break in the 12th game of the decider and will play No 5 seed Jack Draper next.

“I had to run a lot,” Alcaraz said. “I had to fight every ball. Khachanov, the rhythm that he gets in the matches, it’s insane. It is really, really high. He pushes you to the limit in every point. So I just to be patient, I had to to wait for my chances, and that made me run a lot. So I had to to fight.”

Alcaraz said he was looking forward to trying to gain revenge over Draper for his defeat by the Briton in Indian Wells in March, when Draper went on to win the title.

“I’m just ready,” he said. I’m just looking forward to playing against him. He’s one of the best players in the world right now. The results show how good he is playing lately. I just want to change the result from Indian Wells. I will try to be more ready than (he was) in Indian Wells. It’s going to be an interesting match to play.”

Alcaraz’s win means he has now reached at least the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slams and all nine Masters 1000s.

The 22-year-old Spaniard defeated Serb qualifier Dusan Lajovic (6-3, 6-3) and Serb Laslo Djere (7-6 (2), 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds of the Italian Open, Khachanov, ranked No 24, won against Argentinian qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga (6-4, 5-7, 6-1) and Italian wildcard Francesco Passaro (6-3, 6-0).

Roma Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Foro Italico, clay, EUR 8.055.385, most recent results first):

• Jaume Munar vs. Casper Ruud
• Tommy Paul vs. Alex De Minaur
• Arthur Fils vs. Alexander Zverev
• Jannik Sinner vs. Francisco Cerundolo
• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Jakub Mensik
• Jack Draper beat Corentin Moutet: 1-6, 6-4, 6-3