(Rio de Janeiro) Defending Rio Open champion Carlos Alcaraz did not offer his best performance against Fabio Fognini on Thursday.
He still managed to win, thus reaching the quarter-finals.
Tournament favorite Alcaraz beat the 35-year-old veteran 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4. The match lasted two hours and 47 minutes.
The defending US Open champion will face a Serbian-Laslo Djere or Dusan Lajovic in the next round.
Alcaraz is playing in his second tournament of the year, having missed four months with a right leg injury.
Upon his return to action, the Spaniard won the Argentina Open, losing only one set in the entire tournament.
Alcaraz led 3-0 in the first set, but several unforced errors allowed Fognini to come back in this one and win the tiebreaker.
Alcaraz also let slip a 3-0 lead in the final set, but didn’t let Fognini complete another comeback.