Alcaraz withdrew from the current Monte Carlo Masters with again and hand issues and battled the Spanish veteran now and again as he continues to heat up for the French Open in Might.

Alcaraz, the highest seed, edged previous Nuno Borges on Tuesday however discovered it way more troublesome within the spherical of 16 amid windy circumstances as he continued his Barcelona title protection on the court docket bearing Rafael Nadal’s identify.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion will not be taking part in in Barcelona as a result of a hip harm and beforehand introduced that he may also be unable to take part within the Madrid Masters subsequent week.

“I’m very glad to go to the following spherical, it was a really troublesome match,” Alcaraz advised Spanish tv channel Teledeporte.

“All people is aware of how succesful Roberto is, how powerful he’s, and it wasn’t simple with the wind.”

Alcaraz mentioned that he needed to settle for the climate circumstances with a “good face and a very good perspective.”

“We are saying that video games like this should be received with professionalism and work,” he continued.

“It was very troublesome to play at the very best stage, for Roberto too, I am positive.”

Alcaraz began shaky, saving two break factors within the first sport, with Bautista Agut exhibiting loads of stamina.

The 35-year-old performed solidly and competed a lot better than he did in his Indian Wells loss to Alcaraz in March 2022.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz, searching for his third trophy of the season after triumphing in California this yr and once more in Buenos Aires, struggled for consistency and made a number of unforced errors.

The 2022 US Open winner broke for 5-3 and constructed it as much as win the primary set, producing a spectacular backhand winner within the remaining sport that had followers rising from their seats.

Alcaraz broke early within the second set after which held serve for 2-0 and 6 video games in a row, taking part in with extra confidence.

Bautista Agut reached deep to withstand his opponent’s stress and after the pair traded breaks in an upside-down second set, he took the lead for the primary time at 4-5.

Nevertheless, Alcaraz broke for 6-5 and served for the win, securing progress to the final eight with an ace.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2 to arrange a quarterfinal conflict with Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

De Minaur progressed with a walkover after Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov withdrew as a result of sickness.

Jannik Sinner defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and can face fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.