Alcaraz eases into Monte Carlo quarter-finals, Draper out

MONTE CARLO: Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals for the first time on Thursday with a straight-sets win over Daniel Altmaier, while British fifth seed Jack Draper was knocked out by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz brushed aside 84th-ranked German Altmaier 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with rising French star Arthur Fils on Friday. Alcaraz took some time to find his rhythm as Altmaier broke him back to level at 3-3 in the first set, but it was one-way traffic from then on.

The second seed reeled off three straight games to take the first set before racing through the second in just over half an hour. The 21-year-old, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is the favourite to lift the title this weekend after early exits for top seed Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz was beaten in his first match on his only previous appearance at the tournament in 2022. Fils eased into his third successive Masters quarter-final this season with an impressive 6-2, 6-3 thrashing of 2023 champion Andrey Rublev.

The 20-year-old Fils is aiming to reach the semis of a Masters event for the first time, after losing in the last eight at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open this year. “If it´s him, it´s going to be the first time I´m going to play him,” Fils said of meeting Alcaraz.

“It´s going to be a good experience. He´s a big champion. He won four Grand Slams already. I didn´t win a single one.” Earlier, Draper was beaten in three sets by Spain´s Davidovich Fokina.

Draper, who won the Indian Wells title last month, slipped to a 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 loss as he failed to reach a first Masters quarter-final on clay. Davidovich Fokina will take on Australia´s Alexei Popyrin in Friday´s quarter-finals.

The world number 42 is into the last eight in Monaco for the third time, with his best performance a run to the 2022 final which included a shock victory over Djokovic. Davidovich Fokina edged a hard-fought opening set which featured three breaks of serve.

Draper saw three break points slip away in the ninth game, with Davidovich Fokina taking his second set point. The players traded breaks in the second set before Draper saved a match point en route to levelling the contest in a tie-break.

But the Briton, playing in the third round of a Masters tournament on clay for the first time, slipped 2-0 behind early in the decider. It proved to be a topsy-turvy third set, though, with the pair both broken twice inside the first six games.

Davidovich Fokina delivered the decisive blow in the 10th game to secure his first win over a top-10 opponent on clay since 2023. Popyrin, the world number 27, defeated 2024 runner-up Ruud 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas is in action later against Nuno Borges, while Daniil Medvedev faces Alex de Minaur.