By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday April 28, 2024
The Spaniard waltzed past Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild for his 13th consecutive Madrid victory.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Carlos Alcaraz kept up his quest to become the first player in history to complete a Madrid three-peat, taking out Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-3, 6-3 to reach the round of 16.
The Spaniard, who entered the main draw under an injury cloud after pulling out of Monte-Carlo and Barcelona due to a right forearm injury, has found his form – and fitness – in the Spanish capital, and continued to be a force at an event that has been extremely important in his development.
Two years ago in Madrid, Alcaraz became the youngest player to defeat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and the first to do so at the same clay-court event, beating them on back-to-back days en route to his second ATP Masters 1000 title.
Last year he defended the title with aplomb, defeating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in a three-set final.
This year Alcaraz has rumbled through his first two rounds in straight sets, and looked extremely focused while doing so. Never mind the sleeve covering his right arm, Alcaraz says he is playing pain-free and wearing it for precautionary reasons. On Sunday he was quick to go on the attack as he subdued the dangerous World No.63, the man who had impressively defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the second round.
Alcaraz had the hard-hitting 24-year-old on a string at several junctures of the match, as he mixed in his impressive touch and feel and clicked into a comfort zone that was at times untouchable.
Seyboth Wild, who defeated Daniil Medvedev last year at Roland-Garros for his lone Top-5 win, did push back late in the second set. After falling behind 5-0 he won three games on the trot, but Alcaraz snuffed his rally, winning the final four points from 0-15 down in the final game to close out his victory in 76 minutes.
Alcaraz improves to 17-4 on the season, 14-1 at Madrid, and sets a rematch of last year’s final with Struff in the round of 16.
Struff, last week’s Munich champion, notched a 7-5, 6-4 win over France’s Ugo Humbert earlier on Sunday.