Carlos Alcaraz commenced his pursuit of regaining the world number one ranking at the Barcelona Open with a convincing straight-sets victory, defeating qualifier Otto Virtanen of Finland 6-4, 6-2. Alcaraz experienced a slow start to the match and, between sets, requested a medical timeout due to wrist discomfort.
Alcaraz demonstrated increased dominance in the second set, suggesting that the arm pain was not severe and likely stemmed from muscle fatigue due to a heavy playing schedule, having competed against Sinner only 48 hours prior. In his post-match interview, he attributed the initial struggle to needing time to adapt to the court’s conditions, which differed from those in Monte Carlo.
The Spanish star now has a day to rest and recover before his round of 16 clash against Tomas Machac on Thursday, scheduled for no earlier than 7:00 PM CEST. Meanwhile, Corentin Moutet is set to face second seed Lorenzo Musetti. This will be the first encounter between Alcaraz and the Czech player since 2024, with their head-to-head record currently tied at 1-1. A victory for Alcaraz could lead to a quarter-final showdown with Andrey Rublev, a semi-final against Alex de Minaur, and potentially a final against Musetti.