Rio Open 2023: 19-year-old Alcarez beats Fognini, reaches quarterfinals

Rio de Janeiro. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz didn’t show his best game against veteran Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open tennis tournament but managed to reach the quarterfinals. Top seed Alcaraz overcame a challenge from the 35-year-old Italian on Thursday to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 47 minutes.

The US Open champion will now face the winner of the match between Serbian players Laslo Jare and Dusan Lajovic. Spain’s 19-year-old Alcaraz is playing his second tournament here after being sidelined for four months due to injury. He won the Argentina Open title last Sunday.