Carlos Alcaraz started well at the Barcelona tennis tournament. The Spaniard, who won his debut title in Monte-Carlo last weekend, began with a tough win over world number 126 Ethan Quinn - 6-2, 7-6 (6), in nearly an hour and 50 minutes of play.

Alcaraz, who is number one seed and returned to world number 2, played a strong first set, making two breaks but also had to save break points. The warning signs were there, but the Spaniard did not fully learn his lesson. He started the second set with a break, but allowed a momentary loss of serve, and then another one to the 21-year-old American. Alcaraz returned the break, then made another for a 6-5 lead. Serving for the match, however, he cracked, and so it came to a tiebreak, in which Quinn had a set point at 6-5 and his own serve, but wasted a golden opportunity to restore parity. Alcaraz took three consecutive points and sealed his ticket to the round of 16.

There he will face Serbian Laslo Djere, who dealt with the "lucky loser" Arthur Rinderknech of France.

All top-seeded tennis players reached the second round of the tournament except Frances Tiafoe. The American, 9th in the scheme, was stopped by the representative of the hosts Jaume Munar. | BGNES