Madrid Open: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advances to last 16 after crushing Wild

CarlosAlcarazpassed a "test of fire" to breeze into the Madrid Open last 16 with a straight sets victory over Thiago Seyboth Wild on Sunday (Apr 28), demonstrating he is over his injury worries before the French Open.

The double defending champion came through 6-3, 6-3 and will face last year's runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff in the next round after another impressive showing before adoring fans on home soil.

World number threeAlcaraz, 20, missed a monthprior tothe Madrid Open with a forearm issue but returned to crush Alexander Shevchenko in the second round.

Still wearing a protective sleeve on his right arm, he had far too much for Seyboth Wild, who had ousted 28th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

"Maybe today I was a bit nervous about how it would be, Thiago hits the ball so hard, I didn't know how the forearm would hold up," saidAlcarazon court.

"Today was the test of fire, no discomfort, feeling spectacular...from here, we'll be getting better."

Indian Wells championAlcarazbroke for a 4-3 lead in the first set when Seyboth Wild blinked first and sent a forehand into the net.

The second seed sealed the set with another break when his Brazilian opponent double-faulted.

Alcarazstepped up a gear in the second set, winning 10 of the first 11 points and breaking in the second and fourth games as he raced into a 5-0 lead.

Seyboth Wild battled to a hold and a break to salvage some pride butAlcaraztriumphed on serve when the Brazilian went long.

"I was very comfortable on the court, moving, hitting the ball, as I always say finishing the game isn't easy, it's nerves," addedAlcaraz.

Germany's Struff defeated Frenchman Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-4.

Andrey Rublev came back from 5-0 down in a first set tie-break to beat home favourite Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 in a nervy affair.

The world number eight saved five set points to stun his opponent, before a similarly hard-fought second set.

Rublev broke for a 5-4 lead with a shot which the Spaniard chose to leave as he thought it was long, but Hawk-Eye showed it was in by a whisker.

The Russian wrapped up his win with a forehand winner, his second win of the week after four straight defeats prior.

'Very tough match'

Women's world number four Elena Rybakina eased to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Egypt's Mayar Sherif to reach the last 16.

The Kazakh, who has a tour-leading three titles this season after triumphing in Stuttgart last week, broke twice in the first set to move 5-0 ahead on the Spanish clay.

Although Sherif battled harder in the second set, surviving four match points to hold for 5-4 down, Rybakina clinched the victory on serve at the Caja Magica.

"Despite the score, it was a very tough match," said Rybakina, who also leads the tour with 28 wins.

"It was a lot of deuces and we both fought a lot. I'm really happy with the performance today."

Rybakina will face teenager Sara Bejlek in the next round after the Czech defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-1.

"I've never played against a player like this," said the 18-year-old. "I will try my best and we'll see how it will go tomorrow."

Mirra Andreeva defeated Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 to return to the last 16 for the second year running.

The 16-year-old Russian won 25 points to nine in the second set against the world number seven from the Czech Republic.