(Miami) World No. 1 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the third round of the Miami Masters 1000, crushing 6-0, 6-2 Argentinian Facundo Bagnis (100th) on Friday.
The 19-year-old Spaniard took only an hour and four minutes to get rid of his modest opponent, whom he had already beaten for the first time in Umag (Croatia), in 2021, on the way to his very first title on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz got off to a flying start, winning the first nine points of the game. Also helped by his opponent’s unforced errors (12 in this round), he scored three breaks in a row to land a donut.
At the start of the second set, he again took the service of Bagnis, but he suddenly relaxed on his own, the Argentinian managing to unbreak (2-2). Whereupon Alcaraz quickly tightened the bolts to line up the next four games.
The prodigy from Murcia, who will have to retain his title in Miami to remain on the world throne at the end of the tournament, will face the American Maxime Cressy (37th) or the Serbian Dusan Lajovic (76th) in the next round.
