Tsitsipas beats Shapovalov, reaches Barcelona quarterfinals

Thu, Apr 20, 2023
Other News (AP)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open by defeating Danis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

The second-seeded Greek saved both break points he faced against the Canadian to move to 18-5 for the season.

"I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline," Tsitsipas said. "Against Denis you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn't easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision making. It was a good day."

Tsitsipas will next face Alex de Minaur, who advanced with a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov.

The fifth-ranked Tsitsipas is making his fifth appearance in Barcelona, having lost in the final to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021. He lost in this year's Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic.

Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner overcame a second-set letdown to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and reach his seventh quarterfinal of the season.

The Italian broke Nishioka's serve three consectuvie times to close out the third set in a match that lasted more than two hours.

Sinner moved to 26-6 for the season, having reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo. The eighth-ranked Italian will next face either Cameron Norrie or Lorenzo Musetti.

Tennis

Tenth-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 7-5.

Later, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will play 13th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in a match between Spaniards.

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