Tsitsipas eases into Barcelona Open third round

Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised into the last 16 of the Barcelona Open on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.

Second seed Tsitsipas, twice a Barcelona runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021, needed just 78 minutes to beat Cachin 6-4, 6-2.

The Greek broke in the fifth game of the opening set and twice more at the start of the second set against his 69th-ranked opponent.

Tsitsipas, whose bid for a third consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title ended in the quarter-finals last week, will next play Denis Shapovalov.

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner beat Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

Karen Khachanov saw off Chilean Nicolas Jarry in two sets as Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo also eased through the second round.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie thrashed qualifier Pavel Kotov 6-1, 6-2 while Australian Alex de Minaur dropped just one game as he breezed past Alexander Shevchenko.

Top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz faces fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday for a place in the last eight.

AFP

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