Carlos Alcaraz raced through the finish line on Wednesday at the Swiss Indoors Basel by winning the final six games of a competitive match against Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 6-4, 6-2 scoreline belies the hard-fought nature of Alcaraz's victory. After a tight opening set that was decided by a single break, Alcaraz found himself behind 0-2 in the second as the Dutchman made his first breakthrough.
Five games in the second set went through deuce, but Alcaraz won four of them before serving out the match to love in just under 90 minutes. His late surge prevented another three-set match after his comeback win against #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper on Monday.
The Spaniard is now 3-2 since his US Open triumph last month, which earned him his debut atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Alcaraz currently holds a 740-point lead over Rafael Nadal in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Through to his 11th quarter-final of the season, Alcaraz is seeking to add to his ATP Tour-leading five titles in 2022. His seven finals are joint-most, alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Alcaraz will meet countryman Pablo Carreno Busta in Friday's quarter-finals after the fifth seed earned a 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4 win against home favourite Dominic Stricker late Wednesday evening.
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