Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz eased into the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open on Thursday with a comfortable straight-sets win over Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori.
The top-seeded Alcaraz had far too much firepower and accuracy for the Vavassori, ranked 317 in the world, running out a 6-2, 6-1 winner in just over an hour.
"Today, I think I hit everything pretty well. I'm just hopeful I can keep going and be a bit better next round," said the Spaniard after the match.
Wearing a breathing aid as he recovers from illness, Alcaraz got off to a flying start, breaking in the very first game and sealing the set 6-2 as the Italian pushed a forehand wide.
The Spaniard again broke early in the second set, taking the third game with a sumptuous lob. A second break followed quickly afterwards as the Italian double-faulted.
Alcaraz wrapped up the match with another break of serve, sending a powerful forehand return to the feet of the Italian, who could only poke it wide.
"I had no ups and downs today which is good for me, something I'm working on," said Alcaraz.
Thursday's victory was a stark contrast to his first-round match, when he required nearly three hours to dispatch local hero Botic van de Zandschulp.
"The first match of every tournament it's never easy to get used to the conditions, so I'm just trying to make the most of the time I spent here in the first round," he said.
Alcaraz will face either Denmark's Holger Rune in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas saved a match point and battled from a set down to advance into the quarterfinals of the Rotterdam Open on Thursday with a gruelling win over local hope Tallon Griekspoor.
The world number 12 eventually overcame spirited resistance from the Dutchman with a 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 victory in a match lasting around three hours.
"I feel like I was here for 10 hours today. I felt like me and Tallon played for ages and I feel like it was a marathon. We started yesterday and finished today," he joked.
"I always felt that he brought the best out of me. We were both fighting pretty well out on the court. These are matches that are going to be remembered."
Tsitsipas now faces a quarterfinal clash with Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci, who shocked second seed Daniil Medvedev in a marathon three-setter on Wednesday.
To the delight of the home crowd, it was the Dutchman who took the initiative in the first set, breaking the Tsitsipas serve in the fifth game with an extraordinary crosscourt forehand pass.
Griekspoor consolidated his advantage with a comfortable hold and served for the set at 5-3 but a costly backhand error and a Tsitsipas winner got the Greek back on serve.
The Dutchman raced into a 5-1 lead in the tie-break and while Tsitsipas battled back to within one point, Griekspoor held his nerve to take the first set with a powerful serve.
Griekspoor's first-set heroics seemed to have taken a lot out of him and he appeared fatigued at the start of the second set, which went with serve until the tie-break.
The second tie-break was nip and tuck, Griekspoor cleverly mixing up serve and volley tactics with solid baseline groundstrokes.
He had a point to clinch the match but Tsitsipas snuffed out his hopes with an unreturnable serve and a wild backhand from Griekspoor gifted the Greek the set.
With a renewed spring in his step, Tsitsipas broke the Dutchman's serve immediately in the third set.
A tiring Griekspoor fought valiantly, roared on by the crowd, and broke back in the eighth game.
At 4-4, Griekspoor saved more break points and somehow held serve, taking the game after the rally of the match, whipping a top-spin forehand past his higher-ranked opponent.
But Tsitsipas held firm, sealing the match with a crosscourt forehand winner.
Also through to the quarterfinals in the bottom half of the draw was last year's runner-up Alex de Minaur, who defeated Czech teenager Jakub Mensik 6-4, 6-4.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will be hoping to avoid Medvedev's fate when he takes on another Italian qualifier, Andrea Vavassori in Thursday's late-night match.