Madrid Open: Top seeds Alcaraz and Swiatek advance to tournament
Madrid. Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Inga Swiatek cruised into the next round of the Madrid Open tennis tournament with straight sets wins. Alcaraz, who fought three sets in the first round, defeated 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 7-5 in the second round to reach the last 16 and keep his title defense hopes alive. Alcaraz will next face 13th seed Alexander Zverev, whom he defeated in the final last year. Two-time Madrid Open champion Zverev defeated qualifier Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 in less than an hour.
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In the women’s section, Swiatek registered an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over Bernarda Pera. She will next face either 22nd seed Zheng Qinwen or 16th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. Third seed Jessica Pegula fought hard to register a 6-4, 7-6(2) win over Marie Bouzkova. Fifth seed Andrey Rublev won 6-2, 7-5 over Yoshihito Nishioka. He will next face 10th seed Karen Khachanov, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
