It was definitely tricky – Stefanos Tsitsipas after qualifying for Madrid Open quarters

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas was delighted after winning his round of 16 match against Spain’s Bernabé Zapata Miralles by 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open. In fact, the Greek had some difficulty in holding his serve in the first set but he came up with a fine performance.

Tsitsipas broke the Spaniard’s serve in the third game of the opening set but the latter followed suit to get back into the contest. However, Tsitsipas was able to stamp his authority on the match after that slip.

“It was definitely tricky; he came out pretty strong in some of my service games… it’s never easy playing against Spaniards who know the surface very well,” Tsitsipas said. “It seemed kind of chaotic in the beginning but then I gave myself time to think and construct my points.”

On the other hand, Tsitsipas will take on Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals. The German defeated Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in the round of 16 in a thrilling three-set match. Struff smashed 48 winners to Cachin’s 22 and winning 37 of 59 net approaches.

“It’s amazing to be back in the quarters,” Struff said. “I told myself to remain calm [after failing to close out the match] because I felt I was playing good at the end of the second set and that the momentum was on my side.

“It was a battle today and the match was decided by small margins.”

Meanwhile, Karen Khachanov defeated compatriot Andrey Rublev whereas Daniil Medvedev was stunned by Aslan Karatsev.

Furthermore, Carlos Alcaraz bested Alexander Zverev in straight sets to advance to the quarters.