Roberto Bautistaagut

Reigning US Open champion Alcaraz eased past Bagnis 6-0 6-2, firing 12 winners and three aces for the match, committing only 11 unforced errors.

The Spaniard won the first set in 24 minutes, marking the first time he has won an opening frame 6-0 at an ATP Masters 100 event. It was also the first bagel he has dished out since beating Bagnis in Umag last year.

"I knew that I needed to be focused for my first match," Alcaraz said after his win, having triumphed in Indian Wells last week. "To start a new tournament is never easy, different conditions.

"I have to be ready to get used to these new conditions, but I was really focused on the match from the beginning, and I'm happy with the way that I played. I try to improve every day."

Alcaraz will face Dusan Lajovic after he beat 30th seed Maxime Cressy 6-4 7-6 (7-2), having knocked off Andy Murray in the first round.

Zverev was the highest seed to bow out on Friday, going down 6-0 6-4 to Japan's Taro Daniel, who beat world number four Casper Ruud last month in Acapulco.

Daniel triumphed in 73 minutes against the German, hitting 17 winners and committing only two unforced errors for the match, while Zverev gave up 18.

The Japanese wild card will meet Emil Ruusuvuori in the third round after the Finn beat 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to open up that section of the draw.

Third seed Ruud also had few problems getting past Ilya Ivashka 6-2 6-3 to set up a clash with Botic van de Zandschulp after his three-set win over Alexei Popyrin.

Sixth seed Andrey Rublev overcame J.J. Wolf 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, having been broken in the opening game of what was a tight contest.

Jannik Sinner beat Laslo Djere 6-4 6-2, marking his 16th win out of 20 appearances at the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), with only three other players – Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkacz – having as many wins within their first 20 matches.

Ninth seed Taylor Fritz defeated fellow American Emilio Nava 6-4 6-1, and will face Denis Shapovalov in round three after he beat Guido Pella 6-3 3-6 6-3.

American 16th seed Tommy Paul came from a set down to beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 5-7 6-3 6-4, while seventh seed Holger Rune beat Martin Fucsovics 6-3 7-5.

Auger-Aliassime saw off the US Open champion in just 82 minutes as he won 6-4 6-3 to take his unbeaten run to 12 matches.

The Canadian was in irresistible form on Saturday, with his shot placement in decisive moments proving far more consistent and lethal than his counterpart, hitting 23 winners to Alcaraz's eight.

Twenty-two-year-old Auger-Aliassime is still fighting to qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time and victory in Sunday's final will move him up to sixth in the rankings having won each of his two previous tournaments in Antwerp and Florence.

"It's amazing," Auger-Aliassime said. "I never expected it, when I was in Florence three weeks ago, or after the US Open. I'm just really happy that all my work is coming together.

"I've always believed that I can play this way, that I can be consistent in that way, but one thing is to believe and the other is to actually do it. It's nice to feel that way, it's nice to come out on the court and win that many matches in a row. So hopefully this is just the beginning of seeing me play this way."

Rune awaits after the Dane beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (10-8) despite being 6-2 down in the second-set tie-break. He will move into the top 20 for the first time as a result of that win.

The final of the Vienna Open will be contested by Daniil Medvedev and Denis Shapovalov, who came through their respective semis in straight sets.

Top seed Medvedev was exceptional against Grigor Dimitrov, with the Russian's serve proving especially important in his 6-4 6-2 win.

Medvedev won 87 per cent of points on his first serve to leave Dimitrov frequently struggling for momentum, and the former world number one recognised that impact.

"The serve is probably the most important shot in tennis," he said. "I was lacking it a little bit this season, I was doing too many double faults. Sometimes in important moments my serve could have been a little bit better. I was working a lot with my coach to try and find this rhythm [again], and so far I'm serving good here. I'm really happy about it and that's also why I'm playing so good."

Shapovalov ultimately romped to an impressive win over Borna Coric.

A tight first set was followed by the Croatian getting bageled as Shapovalov won 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 to reach his second final of the year.

Rublev holds the final automatic qualification spot for the season-ending tournament in London next month following a 6-2 6-1 win over Cameron Norrie. 

The third seed was a cut above Brit Norrie, improving his record to 32 victories and just seven defeats this year, which has included three titles. 

Shapovalov, meanwhile, beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-5 in a battle between youth and experience, the 21-year-old Canadian winning 84 per cent of his first-service points. 

Milos Raonic defeated fellow seed Karen Khachanov 6-1 7-6 (7-1) and will face Borna Coric in the other semi-final, the Croatian having ousted Reilly Opelka in straight sets.

Top seed Alexander Zverev moved into the last four of the Cologne Indoors on home soil, beating South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 6-4 3-6 6-0. 

Zverev will come up against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his third semi-final of the year after the unseeded Spaniard got past Dennis Novak 6-3 2-6 6-3. 

Roberto Bautista Agut and Felix Auger-Aliassime will do battle for a place in the final following wins over Hubert Hurkacz and Radu Albot respectively. 

Marco Cecchinato and Lorenzo Musetti will be hoping to contest an all-Italian Sardegna Open in their homeland after advancing to the last four on Friday, along with Serbian duo Laslo Djere and Danilo Petrovic.

Thiem earned his first tour-level win in 14 months by downing Emil Ruusuvuori on his Bastad debut, before reaching his first quarter-final of the season by overcoming Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday.

The Austrian battled to a 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4 victory over the fourth-seeded Bautista Agut, picking up his first top-20 win since beating Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in 2020.

Sebastian Baez, who defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets, awaits in the next round and former world number three Thiem is ready for the task.

"The win against Emil gave me confidence that I can compete against the best players in the world and today against Roberto," said Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion.

"He is always such a tough opponent. I was expecting and hoping it would be a close match. Then when I won the first set in the tie-break I said 'Hey, I can win today.' 

"I had the belief until the end of the match and the third set was really good. It is a process. I beat Ruusuvuori and today I beat Bautista Agut.

"Two really top opponents, so if I can beat them I am definitely back. I am into the quarters of a really strong tournament, so I am happy. It is a process, but I am going the right way."

Second seed Andrey Rublev was made to work for his 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-2) victory over Federico Coria and will meet Laslo Djere, who defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime resumed his match with Jason Kubler in Newport that was suspended due to bad light on Wednesday with a slight advantage but fell to a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) second-round loss.

That marked a first top-10 victory for Kubler, continuing his fine 2022 season that saw him achieve his best major result at Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round at the All England Club.

Fourth seed Maxime Cressy is yet to drop his serve at the tournament but needed to survive a first-set scare against fellow American Steve Johnson to triumph 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4.

Second favourite John Isner will meet Cressy in the semi-finals after battling past fifth seed Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5).

Federer produced an excellent performance in a straight-sets thrashing of Filip Krajinovic on Rod Laver Arena.

The Swiss great had received good news before even going on court after three seeds fell in his quarter of the draw, with Fabio Fognini only narrowly avoiding that fate.

Earlier, Djokovic dropped just seven games on his way to a thrashing of Tatsuma Ito in Melbourne.

FEDERER, DJOKOVIC EASE THROUGH

Having lost a set in the opening-round victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, Djokovic suffered no such setback against Ito, winning 6-1 6-4 6-2.

A record seven-time champion in Melbourne and 16-time grand slam winner, Djokovic brushed past Ito on the back of 31 winners.

Federer was even more impressive later in the day, crushing Djokovic's Serbian compatriot Krajinovic 6-1 6-4 6-1.

The 20-time grand slam champion looked in fabulous form with 42 winners and just 14 unforced errors, reaching the third round in Melbourne for the 21st straight year.

Federer will next face John Millman, who upset 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 7-5 6-3. The Australian stunned Federer at the US Open in 2018.

DIMITROV AMONG SEEDS TO CRASH OUT

Dimitrov, a semi-finalist in 2017, bowed out in a surprise 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (10-3) loss to Tommy Paul.

The Bulgarian 18th seed went up by a break twice in the final set, but lost seven consecutive points from 3-3 in the match tie-break.

Matteo Berrettini, the eighth seed who reached the US Open semi-finals, was edged out by Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 2-6 7-5.

Sandgren reached the quarter-finals in 2018 and will face Sam Querrey in an all-American third-round clash.

British 30th seed Dan Evans also made a second-round exit, losing to Djokovic's next opponent, Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-4 6-3 6-4.

CILIC, RAONIC ADVANCE AS TSITSIPAS GETS FREE PASS

Marin Cilic, runner-up in 2018, eliminated 21st seed Benoit Paire in a thriller.

The Croatian needed three hours, 33 minutes to overcome Paire 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 3-6 6-1 7-6 (10-3).

Next up for Cilic is a man he has lost to twice at the Australian Open in Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spanish ninth seed too good for Michael Mmoh 5-7 6-2 6-4 6-1.

Milos Raonic has reached at least the Australian Open quarter-finals four times and the Canadian has shown impressive form early on this year.

The 29-year-old served 19 aces in a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over Cristian Garin on Wednesday and next faces 2019 semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas advanced without hitting a ball after Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew due to a muscle strain.

FOGNINI TAKEN THE DISTANCE BY THOMPSON

It is proving to be an arduous campaign for Fognini, who surrendered a two-set lead before holding his nerve in a decisive tie-break with home hope Jordan Thompson.

The Italian was taken the distance in his first-round meeting with Reilly Opelka after losing the first two sets, and this time it was the 12th seed who almost choked on a healthy lead.

Fognini hurt himself when punching his racket in frustration and was called for a foot-fault in the fifth-set breaker, but he got the job done in a memorable 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 3-6 4-6 7-6 (10-4) triumph that took more than four hours to complete. 

The Greek was beaten in straight sets and managed not a single break point against the relentless power and precision of the Raonic serve.

Roger Federer ensured his 100th match win at Melbourne Park was among his most memorable as he survived a gruelling five-set encounter with John Millman.

The six-time champion remains on course for a semi-final against Novak Djokovic, who was ruthless in seeing off the challenge of Yoshihito Nishioka.

Roberto Bautista Agut was edged out by Marin Cilic, and there were also wins for Diego Schwartzman, Marton Fucsovics, Tennys Sandgren and Fabio Fognini.

RAONIC LEAVES TSITSIPAS REELING AS DJOKOVIC MARCHES ON

There was a shock for sixth seed Tsitsipas, who simply had no answer to the serve and forehand of Raonic in a 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2) defeat.

The 21-year-old struggled to make any inroads against the Raonic attack and was unable to muster even a solitary chance of a break against a player yet to drop serve in this year's tournament.

"It's one shot that you can get knocked down all the time, and you're just there, getting punched in the face with one shot. You can't do much," Tsitsipas said of facing the Canadian.

"I'm not saying it's luck. It's a skill. I felt a bit stupid returning his serves."

Defending champion Djokovic was in imperious form, dispatching Nishioka 6-3 6-2 6-2 to keep his quest for an eighth title on track.

Djokovic described the victory as "one of the best serving matches I've had lately" and credited coach Goran Ivanisevic after firing in 17 aces and dropping just eight points on serve to reach the second week in Melbourne for the 12th time.

The Serbian now faces Schwartzman, who saw off Dusan Lajovic 6-2 6-3 7-6 (9-7).

TON UP FOR FEDERER AFTER TIE-BREAK TURNAROUND

Federer's 100th win at the Australian Open was secured at 0048 local time after a marathon encounter with Millman.

The 38-year-old triumphed 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (10-8) after four hours and three minutes of brutal tennis against the Australian, who beat him at the US Open two years ago.

Federer fought back from a set down to lead but, after Millman forced a decider, momentum seemed to have swung his way in front of a crowd for once not overwhelmingly backing the Swiss great.

Millman led 3-0 and 8-4 in the final-set tie-break, but Federer rallied from the brink to earn the first match point and promptly took advantage when a Millman volley offered him a routine passing shot.

"Oh God, it was tough," Federer told Jim Courier on court after the match. "Thank God it was a match tie-break, otherwise I would have lost this one."

Federer will face Fucsovics in round four, the Hungarian having beaten Tommy Paul 6-1 6-1 6-4 in a one-sided match-up.

CILIC OUTLASTS BAUTISTA AGUT AS SANDGREN QUELLS QUERRY

Cilic, the beaten finalist in 2018, claimed a memorable 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-0 5-7 6-3 victory over ninth seed Bautista Agut to set up a fourth-round showdown with fellow serving heavyweight Raonic.

An all-American clash went the way of Sandgren, meanwhile, as he beat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Sandgren meets Fognini in round four, the Italian making relatively light work of Guido Pella in a 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-3 victory.

The 35-year-old showed what he is capable of by defeating Thanasi Kokkinakis in a near-six-hour epic in the early hours of Friday, but he came unstuck against Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday.

Murray, who was also on the court for almost four hours against Matteo Berrettini in the first round, fell just short of a place in the last 16 with a 6-1 6-7 (9-7) 6-3 6-4 loss on Margaret Court Arena.

Three-time grand slam winner Murray is already looking ahead to the Rotterdam Open in three weeks' time, though, and is hopeful of making his mark at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open later in the year. 

"I can have a deeper run than the third round of a slam, there's no question about that," he told reporters. "Obviously draws can open up for you.

"I need to also help myself with that. If I was playing at this level last year, I probably wouldn't be ranked 50, 60 in the world. It's up to me to try and change that."

Murray, who was on court for around 14 hours across his three matches in Melbourne, says the amount of hours put into practising is made worthwhile as he looks to prolong his career.

"Obviously you never know exactly when the end is going to be," he said. "I would like to go out playing tennis like this, where I'm competing with the best players in the world in the biggest events and doing myself justice.

"There were maybe times the last year or so where I didn't really feel like I was playing well, and I didn't enjoy the way that I was playing.

"Those sacrifices and that effort that I put in allowed me to get through those matches and play at a high level that I think was entertaining for the people watching.

"I felt good about the way that I was playing. It's more enjoyable for me when I'm playing like that, when I'm coming into a major event and really believing that I can do some damage."

Perhaps showing signs of rustiness from his early-morning finish against Kokkinakis, Murray struggled in the first set against Bautista Agut as three double faults – as many as he had in the whole of his second-round match – handed the initiative to his opponent.

Murray recovered from a point down in the second set to level up via a tie-break, despite trailing 5-2 and 6-4, though Bautista Agut earned the only break of serve in the third set to edge back in front.

Never before had Murray played three successive five-set matches in the main draw of a grand slam, and that remains the case as Bautista Agut shut out the loud noise generated by the crowd to recover from an early break down and take the match.

"I have a lot of mixed emotions," said Murray, who has not reached a grand slam quarter-final in six years. "I feel like I gave everything that I had to this event. So I'm proud of that.

"That is all you can ever do. You can't always control the outcome. You can't control how well you're going to play or the result. You can control the effort that you put into it, and I gave everything that I had the last three matches. I'm very proud of that.

"But I'm also disappointed because I put loads of work into the beginning of this year and was playing well enough to have a really good run, have a deep run.

"I think even tonight I'm competing against a guy 20 in the world, and it's still very tight considering the circumstances. I feel disappointed because I feel like I could have gone quite a bit further."

Number 24 seed Bautista Agut, who has only once previously reached the last eight in Melbourne, will face Tommy Paul in the next round.

Bautista Agut made it mission accomplished for Spain by defeating Poland's world number nine 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 7-6 (7-5) at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

Spain were beaten by Serbia in the final two years ago, but will get another opportunity to lift the trophy on Sunday when they face Canada or Russia.

Bautista Agut has won all four matches he has played in the competitions this week and came out on top despite Hurkacz hitting 61 winners to his 28.

The 33-year-old only made 14 unforced errors and secured the only mini-break in a final-set tie-break to put Spain into the final once again.

He said: "It's a match that I will always remember. I think both of us could get the win today. He also really deserved a lot of good things. But this is our game, this is tennis.

"Today I was the one who got the win. I think I also deserved it. I did a lot of good things on the court."

Bautista Agut, who is the fifth seed in a draw featuring Dominic Thiem, Roger Federer and Andrey Rublev, was the highest ranked player in action in the round of 32 and fell behind to world number 39 Opelka.

Yet, the Spaniard pulled out his familiar battling qualities to prevailed over the big-serving American, who held sway 22-6 in the aces count.

Nevertheless, Bautista Agut was still able to fashion 11 break points over the course of the contest, converting one apiece decisively in sets two and three.

Alexander Bublik took the notion of big serves not being a decisive factor to an extreme as he popped in an underarm to fine effect on match point – qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan scampering to thump his return out and conclude a 6-4 6-2 loss against Bautista Agut's next opponent.

The match between world number 42 Nikoloz Basilashvili and 41John Millman was as close as the rankings suggested, with the Georgian coming back to win 2-6 6-4 6-2.

Richard Gasquet and Taylor Fritz were straight-sets winners, with Rublev up next for Gasquet.

At this week's other ATP 250 event, the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka bowed out when he retired 2-6 2-4 down to Emil Ruusuvuori.

Wildcard Hugo Gaston beat Dennis Novak 3-6 6-4 6-1 to claim a notable scalp.

Top seed Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov and Ugo Humbert will enter the fray in the last 16.

Bautista Agut entered the day's play not knowing the identity of his opponent, as Misolic's semi-final against Yannick Hanfmann had been halted in a third-set tie-break.

Misolic – a 20-year-old from Graz ranked 205th in the world – was the man to advance, continuing his dream run with a 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) success.

But his fairytale campaign came to a disappointing conclusion soon after as he was quickly thrust into action against the ruthless Bautista Agut.

Misolic scarcely laid a glove on the third seed, unable to convert any of his three break points in a 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Bautista Agut insisted afterwards this had been no straightforward task as he celebrated his 11th ATP Tour title, but only his second on clay, following on from a 2014 victory in Stuttgart.

"I enjoyed the final," he said. "I think I managed the pressure very well.

"I knew I was a little bit the favourite today, but he had so many good wins this tournament and I knew it was going to be difficult. I played a very good match."

Misolic added: "I want to congratulate Roberto. I have watched you on television, and to play here against you in the final is an honour for me."

Basilashvili beat Bautista Agut in the championship match in Doha last year, but the Spaniard came out on top on this occasion, winning 6-3 6-4.

The experienced second seed had not won a tournament since he was crowned Qatar Open champion in 2019, before repeating that feat with a straight-sets success.

Bautista Agut came from a break down in both sets to win the 10th ATP title of his career at the expense of the third seed from Georgia.

The 33-year-old world number 16 dropped only one set this week en route to getting his hands on another trophy.

He said: "It was a really tough final. This year we played without wind, which was much better for me.

"It was not easy to recover after a really tough battle yesterday [in a semi-final win over Karen Khachanov], but I think I did a good job today.

"It is my 10th ATP Tour title and I am very happy."

Third seed Bautista Agut proved too strong for compatriot Ramos-Vinolas as he prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in a little over two hours, despite squandering three match points.

The world number 20 now can now look forward to a first clay-court final since suffering defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the 2018 Swiss Open Gstaad.

However, the other semi-final between Yannick Hanfmann and home wild card Filip Misolic was dramatically suspended in a third-set tie-break due to heavy rain.

Misolic, who had earlier beaten Dusan Lajovic in a clash delayed from Thursday, led 1-0 in the breaker against Hanfmann when play was halted and ultimately called off until Saturday.

The final between Bautista Agut and either Hanfmann or Misolic is still scheduled to go ahead as planned shortly after that second semi-final concludes.

At the Croatian Open, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Facundo Bagnis 6-0 6-4 and will now face Giulio Zeppieri, who saw off Bernabe Zapata Miralles in straight sets.

Jannik Sinner is also through to his first semi-final of 2022 after beating Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4 7-6 (7-5), with Franco Agamenone up next after overcoming Marco Cecchinato.

Spanish second seed Bautista Agut had dashed past Andy Murray and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the loss of just three games in Doha, but Khachanov proved far more obdurate.

After a slow start, eventually Bautista Agut picked up the pace and emerged a 2-6 6-3 7-5 winner in two hours and 24 minutes of toil, earning a shot at Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in Saturday's final.

Bautista Agut praised Russian Khachanov for making him scrap for the win.

"He was playing very fast," said Bautista Agut, quoted on the ATP website. "He was playing very solidly, he was defending very well and he hit many unbelievable passing shots. I had to play incredibly well tonight. I enjoyed tonight so much."

Third seed Basilashvili is the defending champion this week and made light work of France's Arthur Rinderknech, tying up a 6-4 6-2 victory.

In Marseille, Greek top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was stunned by Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the Open 13 quarter-finals. World number 163 Safiullin had a staggering 13 break points against the under-performing Tsitsipas serve, and although 11 of those were saved, the two that were not decided the match.

Safiullin, for his part, faced one break point and saved it on the way to a 6-4 6-4 victory. He made his presence felt at the ATP Cup in Australia at the start of the year and, although results have been disappointing since, the 24-year-old is doing well again in France this week.

Next for Safiullin will be last week's Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime, who saw off Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-3 6-4 in the last match of the day. After losing his first eight finals on the ATP Tour, Auger-Aliassime may well be closing in on a second title in eight days.

Saturday's other semi-final will see Russian second seed Andrey Rublev tackle Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who reached the last four of a main-tour event for the first time by crushing Aslan Karatsev 6-1 6-3.

Rublev dug deep to edge out French wildcard and former top-10 player Lucas Pouille 6-3 1-6 6-2.

2017 runner-up Joao Sousa cruised past Vit Kopriva 6-1 7-5 and Jurij Rodionov set up a Round of 16 meeting with third seed Roberto Bautista Agut with a straight-sets victory over Hernan Casanova.

Dominic Thiem, who won the 2019 edition of the competition, will face Alexander Shevchenko tomorrow while Richard Gasquet will take on Sebastian Ofner.

2016 Croatia Open winner Fabio Fognini will not be regaining his title in Umag this year, after the seventh seed was knocked out by Colombian Daniel Galan in a 3-6 7-5 3-6 defeat.

Galan will play Giulio Zeppieri in the next round, who came from one set down to overcome world number 90 Pedro Cachin 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Fifth seed Alex Molcan plays his first game tomorrow against Duje Adjukovic, and sixth seed Daniel Altmaier will take on French 23-year-old Corentin Moutet.

The Italian world number eight, making his ATP Tour return since losing the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic in July, won 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5.

The Spaniard claimed the first set in a tie-break but Berrettini hit back, sending down 25 aces for the match, winning 84 per cent on his first serve.

"I'm happy for the win. I think I served really well," Berrettini said. "My strokes from the baseline weren't working the way I wanted them to, but I knew from the beginning it's been a long time since I played a match, especially on hard, so I expected to feel a little bit weird."

The match extended to two hours and 20 minutes, with the Italian utilizing his backhand slice in the final set to get the edge.

Berrettini, who has a 33-7 record for the season, will face 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Karen Khachanov in the third round.

"I'm really happy that I'm going to have the chance to play another match because that's what I need," Berrettini said. "I need to play matches. I need to get in the best shape possible."

Canadian sixth seed Denis Shapovalov suffered a shock early upset, going down to France's Benoit Paire 6-3 4-6 7-5 in the Round of 64.

Former US Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov toppled 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 21 minutes.

Fellow seed Cristian Garin also bowed out, losing 4-6 6-3 6-4 to qualifier Tommy Paul, while ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-1.

Marin Cilic, John Isner, Sebastian Korda, Gael Monfils, Reilly Opelka, Lorenzo Sonego and Frances Tiafoe were the other Tuesday winners.

Isner sent down his 13,000th career ace in his three-set win over Briton Cam Norrie.

Coric fought hard to beat Robert Bautista Agut 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the first contest on Wednesday in Malaga.

In a match that lasted just shy of two hours, Coric hit 12 aces on his way to tying Mario Ancic for fourth place in Croatia's all-time leaders in the Davis Cup with his 13th singles win.

"I didn't know that fact to be honest," the 26-year-old said on court. "It's a very nice fact, Mario is a legend of Croatian tennis and obviously it does mean a lot to me that I am there with him."

His experienced team-mate Cilic had a harder time of things, needing to come back from a set down to overcome Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in a thriller.

Like Coric, Cilic relied heavily on aces, smashing 20 through the contest, but he was made to sweat by Carreno Busta, who took the first set.

Cilic fought back to win the second, and was a break ahead in the third before his Spanish opponent broke back and looked set to take the tie to a rubber clash in the doubles.

The decider went to a tie-break though, with Cilic coming back from 4-1 down to seal victory for his country in front of a disappointed Spanish crowd.

Croatia will now face Australia on Friday after they defeated the Netherlands 2-0 on Tuesday thanks to wins for Jordan Thompson and Alex De Minaur.

Shapovalov was beaten by fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil in his opening match at the Oden Sud de France last week after falling at the first hurdle at the Australian Open.

The world number 16 suffered another setback on Monday, going down 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to the unseeded Dimitrov.

Dimitrov was beaten by outsider Gregoire Barrere in his first match in Montpellier last week but claimed a fourth tour-level victory of the year after saving all three break points he faced against the eighth seed.

The former world number three could face another Canadian in the form of Felix Auger-Aliassime or German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.

Roberto Bautista Agut, the sixth seed, came from a set down to defeat Marton Fucsovics, while fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta downed Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

Dan Evans advanced in the final match of the opening day of the tournament, seeing off qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-5.

Djokovic, the world number one, continued his impressive run in New York, where the ATP 1000 event is being held instead of Cincinnati due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Serbian may have been expecting to have Medvedev awaiting him in the last four, but the Russian exited.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas is also into the semi-finals.

DJOKOVIC RACES THROUGH

Djokovic needed just 62 minutes to breeze past Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-1 to reach a record-equalling eighth Western & Southern Open semi.

The 17-time grand slam champion, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament, improved to 21-0 this year.

Djokovic tied Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Roger Federer and Bill Talbert's semi-final totals at the ATP 1000 tournament.

BAUTISTA AGUT BEATS MEDVEDEV

Defending champion and last year's US Open runner-up, Medvedev departed in the quarter-finals.

Medvedev, the third seed, was beaten by eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 1-6 6-4 6-3.

Bautista Agut has lost eight of his 11 meetings with Djokovic, but won two of their three clashes last year.

TSITSIPAS THROUGH AS RAONIC SAVES MP

Tsitsipas was only on court for 38 minutes before Reilly Opelka retired due to a right knee injury.

Opelka led 6-5 against the fourth seed before retiring due to the injury.

Tsitsipas will face Milos Raonic, who saved a match point before overcoming Filip Krajinovic 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5.

Raonic saved a match point in the 10th game of the third set, winning 11 of the final 13 points to advance.

Djokovic – who saw a three-year visa ban lifted in November – played with Vasek Pospisil in the doubles on Monday, but this was his first singles outing in the country since his vaccine-related absence from last year's Australian Open.

"For the first match [of the season] I can't complain," Djokovic said. "I played very well. I thought the first six games were very competitive and I have never faced him before.

"But once I made that break at 3-2 in the first set I thought I stepped it up and played really good tennis for the rest of the match."

Elsewhere in Adelaide, third seed Daniil Medvedev advanced after Lorenzo Sonego retired hurt with the Russian leading by a set, while sixth seed Jannik Sinner eased past Kyle Edmund 6-3 6-2.

Seventh seed Denis Shapovalov is also through after coming from a set down to beat Rinky Hijikata, but fourth seed Andrey Rublev is out after losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.

The Spaniard will face Sebastian Korda next after he beat Andy Murray 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, while eighth seed Karen Khachanov advanced after beating Pedro Cachin 6-2 6-4. 

At the Maharashtra Open in Pune, Aslan Karatsev had no problems seeing off Pablo Andujar 6-1 6-3, with the eighth seed set to face Tim van Rijthoven in the last 16 after the Dutchman beat Radu Albot 6-4 6-4.

There were also wins for Maximilian Marterer against Elias Ymer and Pedro Martinez against Ramkumar Ramanathan.

The fifth seed became the first Greek player to reach this stage at Roland Garros on multiple occasions after overcoming Aljaz Bedene.

Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov will meet for the first time in the fourth round, with each having had curtailed time on court on Saturday as their respective opponents retired.

Marton Fucsovics set up a showdown with in-form Andrey Rublev, but the day arguably belonged to Daniel Altmaier, whose remarkable run continues after he dispatched world number eight Matteo Berrettini.

TSITSIPAS READY FOR REAL TEST

Tsitsipas barely broke sweat as he advanced to the last 16, with Bedene retiring with a foot problem in the third set.

The pair had only been on court for 80 minutes, Tsitsipas having taken a commanding 6-1 6-2 3-1 lead against the clearly hampered Slovenian.

While the match inevitably lost a level of intrigue, the same cannot be said for Tsitsipas at these finals. The 22-year-old, whose personalised face masks have been a hit at the championships, has also made a point of keeping his media duties interesting.

Perhaps that comes in part from the young Tsitsipas' journalistic background. "I was a journalist when I was 11, 12 years old. I had this Facebook page, which I very often updated with news about Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic," he explained.

"I was really into it. Every day after school I would check the results, check the current, latest tennis news. I would update it. It was a lot of fun, I enjoyed doing it.

"Journalism and press and media, I love this a lot. I do understand how it operates, how it works. So for me, you know, I'm a tennis player, and if something works, I'm on the court the next day  trying to do the same thing. For me sometimes there isn't really much for me to say tactical-wise or match-wise because I'm just trying to follow the things that have been working for me."

Tsitsipas will now meet Dimitrov, who had even less time on court against Roberto Carballes, the Spaniard retiring at 1-6 3-6 down with a little over an hour played.

It is the first time Dimitrov, a semi-finalist at each of the other majors in his career, has reached the second week in Paris.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Altmaier produced the finest two hours and 15 minutes of his career as he defeated Berrettini, a semi-finalist at last year's US Open, in straight sets.

The seventh seed lost 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to the German qualifier, who is ranked 186th in the world and nearly did not compete in Paris due to injury.

"My coach and I have been working so hard to be here, and while I've struggled with a few injuries, I am super-pleased it’s at Roland Garros," said Altmaier, who is just the fifth qualifier since 2000 to reach the last 16 of a men's slam.

"Before qualifying, I was struggling with an injury, so I wasn't sure I was going to play. I hope the crowd and the TV audience enjoyed watching, as I want to entertain."

Next up for Altmaier will be Pablo Carreno Busta – himself a US Open semi-finalist just three weeks ago – after he beat compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-4 in three hours and 22 minutes.

FUCSOVICS READY FOR RUBLEV

Rublev's winning streak stretched to eight matches as he made light work of big-serving Kevin Anderson, winning 6-3 6-2 6-3 in just 94 minutes.

Anderson, the former world number five, hit 33 unforced errors and won just four points on Rublev's first serve as he fell to the Russian.

Rublev will now face Fucsovics, who beat Brazil's Thiago Monteiro 7-5 6-1 6-3. It will be their first meeting since the 2017 Davis Cup, when Fucsovics fought from two sets down to help Hungary to a 3-1 victory.

"We were different players," said Fucsovics. "Right now he's just about to break in the top 10. I got more matured. I have more experience. I'm fit now, fitter than ever. I'm looking forward to playing a good match against him, try to break through finally to the quarter-finals."