Alcaraz passes 'test of fire', Sabalenka survives in Madrid Open
MADRID, Spain – Carlos Alcaraz passed a "test of fire" to breeze into the Madrid Open last 16 with a straight-sets victory over Thiago Seyboth Wild on Sunday (Monday Manila time); while Aryna Sabalenka staved off teenager Robin Montgomery to progress in three sets.
Double defending champion Alcaraz came through 6-3, 6-3 and will face last year's runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff in the next round after another impressive showing before adoring fans on home soil.
World No. 3 Alcaraz, 20, missed a month prior to Madrid with a forearm issue but returned to crush Alexander Shevchenko in the second round and looks in fine shape ahead of the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the season.
Still wearing a protective sleeve on his right arm, he had far too much for Seyboth Wild, who had ousted 28th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
"Maybe today I was a bit nervous about how it would be, Thiago hits the ball so hard, I didn't know how the forearm would hold up," said Alcaraz on court.
"Today was the test of fire, no discomfort, feeling spectacular... from here, we'll be getting better."
After taking two breaks in a solid first set, Alcaraz stepped up a gear in the second, breaking in the second and fourth games as he raced into a 5-0 lead.
Seyboth Wild battled to a hold and a break to salvage some pride but Alcaraz triumphed on serve when the Brazilian went long.
"I was very comfortable on the court, moving, hitting the ball, as I always say finishing the game isn't easy, it's nerves," added Alcaraz.
German fourth seed Alexander Zverev, the 2018 and 2021 Madrid champion, made the last 16 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Canada's Denis Shapovalov.
Andrey Rublev came back from 5-0 down in a first set tie-break to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 in a tense affair.
The World No. 8 saved five set points to stun his opponent, before a similarly hard-fought second set.
Rublev broke for a 5-4 lead with a shot which the Spaniard chose to leave as he thought it was long, but Hawk-Eye showed it was in by a whisker.
Women's World No. 2 Sabalenka scraped past plucky 19-year-old Montgomery 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 in a two-and-a-half hour tussle.
The big-hitting Belarusian started her
