Rome: Carlos Alcaraz was made to work for a 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory over Karen Khachanov that earned him a spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday and a rematch with Jack Draper — who beat him earlier this year.
Alcaraz saved two break points early in the third set then dropped his serve later on to waste an early break before improving to 5-0 in his career against the 24th-ranked Khachanov.
“Physically I was struggling a little bit,” Alcaraz said. “Not any pain in any part of the body. I was just tired. I had to run a lot. I was really proud the way I fought (for) every ball.”
The third-ranked Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.
Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.
Alcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 12-1 on clay this season. The four-time Grand Slam champion will next face No. 5 Draper, who rallied past Corentin Moutet 1-6 6-4 6-3 on the red claycourts of
the Foro Italico.
While Alcaraz holds a 3-2 career edge over Draper, the British player won their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells, California, in March.
In the women’s quarterfinals, Jasmine Paolini rallied past Diana Shnaider 6-7(1) 6-4 6-2 to become the first Italian woman to reach the semifinals in Rome since her doubles partner, Sara Errani, lost the 2014 final to Serena Williams.
Paolini was trailing 3-0 in the second set when the match was briefly stopped due to rain. Shnaider went on to hold serve and go ahead 4-0 after the suspension but then Paolini won six straight games to take the set. “It was a good thing that it rained for five minutes. I got some coaching from Sara,” Paolini said of Errani, who was watching
from the stands.