Carlos Alcaraz put down a rebellion from Italian Luca Nardi on Wednesday, defeating the qualifier 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the ATP Doha quarter-finals.
The world No. 3 Spaniard was motoring up a set and 4-1 when the No. 85 came alive, spinning off six straight games to take the contest into a deciding set.
But the 21-year-old top seed regrouped to complete the win in just under two hours.
“It seemed like he started to play like the World No. 1,” Alcaraz said. “I couldn’t do anything, I just tried to stay there, stay strong mentally.
“My energy levels probably went down a little bit, but credit to him. I’m really happy [that I] forgot everything and restarted in the third set.
“It was a good level mentally, I was really strong; I was screaming ‘Vamos’, to push me up and get the good energy again.
“I played really good tennis in the third set, but I’m really proud of my energy levels in that set.”
Alcaraz claimed his 12th straight match win at a 500 event after titles last autumn in Beijing and a repeat this month in Rotterdam.
He next takes on Czech Jiri Lehecka, a winner over Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes.
Nardi’s claim to fame was his upset last March over then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells.
Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz advances to Doha quarter finals – by ATPTour.com
Alexander Zverev maintained his clay court momentum from this month;s Munich title, with the German advancing in…
Novak Djokovic agreed on Thursday that players can be "slaves" to tennis, after complaints by Carlos…
Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the Madrid Masters on Thursday with a pair…
Emma Raducanu ended a month-long break from tennis to pick up her first clay win…
Belinda Bencic began the Madrid Masters with a win while three-time tournament winner Petra Kvitova was…
Jelena Ostapenko rediscovered her clay-court touch after eight years on Monday and reaped the rewards with…
