Alcaraz Completes Masters 1000 Quarterfinal Set With Latest Rome Win

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: FITP)

ROME/WASHINGTON, May 13, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz has compiled an impressive 24-2 win-loss record on clay courts since May of last year. With his fourth-round victory over No. 23 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia Tuesday afternoon, the No. 3 seed from Spain completed the set of reaching the quarterfinals at all ATP Masters 1000 and Grand Slam events. The Rome Masters was the last remaining piece of the puzzle for Alcaraz to attain. He becomes the 10th active player to reach the quarterfinals in each of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events and just the sixth active player to achieve the feat in all four major events.

Alcaraz defeated Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 28 minutes on Campo Centrale for his fifth straight win in five meetings against the Russian No. 3. Tuesday’s match marked the first time Khachanov had taken a set off the 22-year-old Spaniard. Now, Alcaraz finds himself one win away from reaching the semifinals at Foro Italico, which would secure a Top-2 seeding at Roland-Garros later this month.

Although Alcaraz lost a break lead in both the second and third sets to Khachanov, including four straight games from 6-3, 3-2 up, he recovered just in time to move into the last eight in Rome. Alcaraz’s triumph over Khachanov was his ATP Tour-leading 26th of the season. He’s 26-5 overall, including 12-1 on clay.

“It feels amazing to get the win at the end against a really big and really tough guy like Khachanov,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “Physically I struggled a bit. Not any pain on any part of the body, but I was just tired. The match was really tough. I had to run a lot, so I’m just really proud of the way I fought for every ball.

“At a break up in the second set, from then to the end of the second set, I probably lost focus a little bit. He started to play great, but I was really happy to forget it and come into the third set as good as I could. I just fought, and I’m really happy about that.”

Alcaraz finished the fourth-round tussle with 41 winners to 29 unforced errors, compared to 17 winners and 17 unforced errors by Khachanov. Alcaraz converted five of 10 break points and had his serve broken four times. Khachanov outpointed Alcaraz 98-95.

Of note, Alcaraz is the first Spaniard to make the quarterfinals in Rome since record 10-time champion Rafael Nadal in 2021.  No. 66 Jaume Munar could make it two Spaniards in this year’s quarterfinals if he defeats No. 6 seed Casper Ruud of Norway on Wednesday afternoon.

Next, Alcaraz will face No. 5 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, who recovered nicely after losing the first set to defeat upset-minded No. 83 Corentin Moutet of France, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and two minutes on Supertennis Arena to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season. Although Alcaraz leads the head-to-head with the British No. 1, Draper defeated Alcaraz in their most recent meeting en route to winning the title at Indian Wells in March.

“Jack is playing great,” Alcaraz said of Draper, who has a chance to move up to World No. 4 with a win over the Spanish No. 1. “The way he’s playing is really high. I’ve been watching his matches. The way he plays is huge, and I have to be ready for that. I think it’s going to be a great battle.”

Against Moutet, Draper hit 23 winners, converted three of eight break points and outpointed Moutet 76-75.

Draper improved to 26-3 against players outside the Top 10 since October and his 15 ATP Masters 1000 wins is tops on the Tour.

“Kind of got away from me the first set,” Draper told reporters afterward of the all-lefty matchup with Moutet. “Thought I just had to start off the second from scratch. Knew I had to change a few things tactically, be there for every point because his level wasn’t going to drop. I knew that.

“Really, really happy with the way I problem solved. I think there’s a lot of lessons I can take from that match.”

When Draper stands across the net from Alcaraz in the next round, it will be his first match against a Top-5 players while ranked in the Top-5 himself.

“Obviously I suppose we’re both in the top five in the world now,” he said. “But I see it as just two guys who are playing great tennis going out there and wanting to win and beat each other and be competitive.

“I have big respect for him. I know what he’s going to bring. He’s going to be really tough to beat.”

Sinner wins 24th straight, advances to second Rome quarterfinal

In a rematch of their 2023 fourth-round encounter in Rome, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated Argentine No. 1 Francisco Cerundolo, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in two hours and 17 minutes on Campo Centrale after the skies over Foro Italico cleared. Because of the length of the first two matches of the day on the prime court – coupled with the nearly-three-hour rain delay – Sinner and Cerundolo were four-and-one-half hours late taking court.

Sinner came in on a 23-match winning streak dating back to October of last year and was pushed by Cerundolo in their fifth career meeting. Cerundolo broke Sinner’s serve as the 23-year-old Italian was serving for the match at 5-1 in the second set. He saved two match points during the next game and a third match point with a 12th-shot forehand winner as Sinner was serving for the win at 5-3 (40-30).

However, Sinner finally closed out the victory on his fourth match point after Cerundolo netted a second-shot return that concluded a 12-point final game stretching over nearly nine minutes. Sinner, who has not dropped a set in his three matches in Rome, now leads their head-to-head 3-2.

“He’s a very tough competitor, it’s a great challenge for me,” Sinner said of Cerundolo, during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “Especially now trying to get used to so many difficult situations on the court. I just tried to stay there mentally, trying to play every point. But I’m very happy because I felt like I raised my level. Game wise, I felt a little bit better. It was very heavy conditions, and it was a long day. The crowd helped me, so I’m happy to go through.”

Sinner finished with 17 winners – 13 of them from his forehand side – to 30 unforced errors, compared with 29 winners and 53 unforced errors by Cerundolo. He converted three of 12 break points and outpointed the 17th-seeded Cerundolo 94-83.

With his fourth-round victory, Sinner continued his run of reaching the quarterfinals at every event he’s played since the start of last year. The 23-year-old South Tyrolean was vying for his 16th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal – second in Rome – and he did it impressively.

“I’m very happy. I know he’s a great, great player. We saw this in the last tournament also,” Sinner said during his post-match news conference. “… But no, it’s a good step forward for me. You always have to be focused because things can change so quickly.”

Sinner’s victory – coupled with Lorenzo Musetti’s earlier win – marks the first time since 1984 that two Italian men have reached the Italian Open quarterfinals in the same year.

Next, Sinner will face either No. 6 seed Casper Ruud of Norway or No. 66 Jaume Munar of Spain, whose fourth-round match was postponed from Tuesday evening and rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon on Grand Stand Arena at 2 p.m. local time.

Around Foro Italico

A lengthy rain delay that began with a downpour at 4:38 p.m. local time turned into a waiting game to see if and when play would resume. Play finally restarted about 7:30 p.m., which created havoc with the Tuesday order of play.

• On Grand Stand Arena, No. 8 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy came within a point of closing out a win over 10th-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia. The Italian No. 2 led 7-5, 5-4 (30-all), when heavy showers struck Foro Italico. Initially, play continued even as fans rushed for cover. However, the damp clay conditions made it too difficult to continue after one additional point, won by Musetti with a delicate drop shot to set up match point.

Finally, when play resumed at 7:30 p.m., Musetti struck an inside-out forehand winner on the 13th shot of the rally past the outstretched Medvedev that gave him a 7-5, 6-4 victory after the two-hour, 52-minute delay. The total match time of one hour and 39 minutes was exceeded by the length of the rain delay. Nearly three hours after he achieved match point, Musetti brought the crowd to its feet with his victory. To them – and Musetti – it was well worth the wait.

By the conclusion, Musetti had hit 20 winners – including 12 from his forehand side – to 15 unforced errors, compared to 12 winners and 26 unforced errors by Medvedev. Musetti outpointed his opponent 64-52. It has now been two years since Medvedev won his last ATP Tour title, at Rome in 2023.

Next, Musetti will play defending champion and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, who defeated No. 13 seed Arthur Fils of France, 7-6 (3), 6-1, on Grand Stand Arena Tuesday evening. Zverev converted five of 10 break points and outpointed Fils 77-62 to advance to his 100th tour-level quarterfinal, the first man born in the 1990s to achieve the feat.

“It was back and forth a lot of times and I thought the level was really, really high,” Zverev said in his on-court interview with ATP Media. “When he was coming back he was actually winning the points and playing ridiculously good tennis. I couldn’t blame myself too much, I thought I was doing the right things. It paid off and I’m really happy about the win.”

• Meanwhile, on Supertennis Arena, No. 20 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia and No. 30 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Polan two sets of their fourth-round match, with Hurkacz winning the opener 7-6 (5) and Mensik the second set 6-4. Play was suspended after two hours and 25 minutes, with Hurkacz leading 3-2 in the final set – on serve.

As it turned out, the decider went to a tie-break and Hurkacz won it 7-5 to pull out a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (5) victory in two hours and 59 minutes. The fourth-round match ended nearly six hours after it started and the victory sent Hurkacz through to his 16th career ATP Tour quarterfinal – and first since back-to-back last summer at Montreal and Cincinnati.

Hurkacz struck 38 total winners – including 19 aces – and overcame 48 unforced errors. Mensik countered with 38 winners – 17 of them aces – but also made 53 unforced errors. Mensik outpointed Hurkacz 124-121.

Next, Hurkacz will face No. 11 Tommy Paul of the United States, who eliminated No. 7 Alex de Minaur of Australia, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and 54 minutes on Grand Stand Arena. In a fourth-round match that ended just before midnight, Paul outpointed 79-66 to earn his first win over the Australian No. 1 after five straight losses. It was his first Top-10 win of the season

Tuesday’s Rome results

Wednesday’s Rome order of play

By the numbers

World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti, playing in his first event as a Top-10 player, has reached his first Rome quarterfinal to become the first Italian to play in all three clay (Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome) ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals in one season.

“Quotable …”

“You have to be here physically. You have to be here tennistically. Mentally, of course. You have to stay focused. At the same time, it’s not only about focus. It’s about, like, being aggressive every point, hit the ball every time I have the opportunity to make him run. I mean, it’s literally like every second you have to be the best version of yourself.

“It’s not easy. I did very well in the first set. As we can all see, it’s very hard to maintain all the match. At the same time this guy played a lot of matches this intensity, so he’s more used to it than me. He’s got more experience.

“But yeah, very good player.”

– No. 83 Corentin Moutet of France, speaking to reporters after his three-set loss to No. 5 seed Jack Draper Tuesday afternoon, on the challenge of staying focused for the entirety of a three-set match.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Michael Dickens

The Warrior: Rafael Nadal And His Kingdom Of Clay

May 16, 2025

Dietmar Kaspar

TC Augsburg will im Jubiläumsjahr mit starkem Kader um den Wiederaufstieg mitmischen

May 15, 2025

Marc Raffel

Zum 11. Mal ATP Tennis an Rhein & Ruhr in Meerbusch

March 28, 2025

Florian Heer

Arzel Mevellec über die Entwicklung des Rwanda Challenger: „Wir lernen jedes Mal dazu!”

March 5, 2025

Podcast

Categories