ATP roundup: Carlos Alcaraz begins title defense in Croatia

7/29/2022 12:29:36 AM EST

No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain made quick work of Slovakia's Norbert Gombos, winning 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Croatia Open Umag on Thursday in Umag, Croatia.

The 19-year-old won his maiden ATP title at Umag last year. Earlier this week, he became the youngest player to earn a top-five ATP Tour ranking since countryman Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz will face Argentina's Facundo Bagnis in the quarterfinals after Bagnis swept past France's Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1.

A pair of seeded players fell to Italian qualifiers Thursday. Franco Agamenone rallied to defeat Argentine fourth seed Seabstian Baez 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, and Marco Cecchinato defeated fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the eighth seed, 6-4, 6-3.

Generali Open

No. 3 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain dropped his first set before pushing through for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Bautista Agut trailed 5-3 in the second set before winning four straight games to extend the match. He put the two-hour, 56-minute match to bed on his third match point in the deciding set.

In an all-Spanish duel, fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas took down seventh seed Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-2, and Germany's Yannick Hanfmann ended the run of former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem of Austria with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.

Atlanta Open

Second-seeded John Isner -- a six-time Atlanta champion -- was pushed to the limit before advancing to the quarterfinals in his latest title defense.

Isner edged fellow American Ben Shelton 7-6 (8), 4-6, 7-6 (3). Shelton got the only service break of the match in the first game of the second set. Each player had just two break points overall.

In other second-round action, third-seeded Alex de Minaur beat fellow Australian James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4. Sixth-seeded Jenson Brooksby defeated Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4 in an all-United States affair, and France's Adrian Mannarino was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over the United States' Andres Martin.

--Field Level Media

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