Top seed Carlos Alcaraz seals Buenos Aires semifinal spot

BUENOS AIRES: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz weathered Andrea Vavassori's furious first set before rediscovering his best form in the second, defeating the Italian 7-6(1), 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Argentina Open, where he is now two victories away from defending his championship.

The World No. 2 was trapped in a one-hour opening set before delivering a flawless tie-break performance, surging to a 6/0 lead and then securing a one-set lead two points later.

The Spaniard capitalized on his momentum, breaking Vavassori's serve in his first two service games in the second set before securing a semi-final spot after one hour and forty minutes. "I think in the first set he played such a high level. It was really tough to return his serve and challenging conditions with the wind. It was tough. But I think I played better in the second set. I think his level went down a bit, with his serve as well and I put some returns in, took my chances and I think that was the difference," Alcaraz said of Vavassori as quoted by ATP.

Alcaraz used a variety of strategies, frequently making his way forward and executing precise drop shots to defeat the Italian qualifier. Alcaraz, a two-time major winner, won 71% of his second-serve points to Vavassori's 48 per cent, extending his Buenos Aires victory run to six. Next, Alcaraz will face Nicolas Jarry, the third seed. Jarry of Chile progressed when Tomas Martin Etcheverry retired due to a right leg injury.

Jarry lost the first set 4-6 but evened the match by winning the second set 7-5 after Etcheverry was unable to continue. In the bottom half of the draw, local favorites Federico Coria and Facundo Diaz Acosta maintained their dream week. Coria, 31, beat fifth seed Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-4, while wild card Diaz Acosta defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-3.