Top Seed Carlos Alcaraz Easily Cruises Into Rotterdam Open Quarter-Finals
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Carlos Alcaraz recorded one of his easiest wins in a while when he bested Andrea Vavassori in the second round of the 2025 Rotterdam Open.
Alcaraz was given a relatively brutal draw at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. In the first round, he had to beat Botic van de Zandschulp, who bested him at the US Open.
In the second round, it was possible for the Spaniard to take on Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian player is an indoor hard-court specialist, and he was coming to Rotterdam on a four-match winning streak.
His first-round opponent was a qualifier, Andrea Vavassori, and things were going well for Auger-Aliassime. However, after the second set of the match, he was forced to retire, sending the Italian player to the second round.
That meant Vavassori had an even more challenging task in front of him. Alcaraz was a big favorite in their match despite struggling with an illness in Rotterdam.
The 21-year-old player started with a break in the first game, and already in the second game, he showed fans in Rotterdam that it was worth paying for the tickets to see him play.
The four-time Grand Slam champion produced a sensational behind-the-back lob, and after his opponent's overhead, Alcaraz produced a sensational backhand winner.
It was a moment of brilliance from the top seed, who dominated the first set of the match. He had a chance to break his opponent in every single return game, but even though he couldn't do it, he didn't have to.
Two breaks were more than enough for Alcaraz to win the first set of the match 6-2 in only 39 minutes of play. He won 86% of points after his first serve and dominated from the baseline as well.
Vavassori is mostly a doubles specialist, which was obvious in this match. The Italian player doesn't compete in singles too often, but he took a chance and entered the qualifying tournament in Rotterdam, which he ended up winning.
Thanks to that, he got to see how the best singles players in the world play, as Alcaraz demonstrated in every game of their second-round meeting.
Alcaraz improved on his serve in the second set. He lost only four points when he was serving, and he managed to break his opponent's serve three times.
The ATP World No. 3 player really dominated the match in every possible way, which is why he was able to win 6-2, 6-1, in only an hour and five minutes of play.
He will now start focusing on his quarter-final match in Rotterdam. Alcaraz's next opponent will be the winner of the last second-round match between the fifth-seeded Holger Rune and Pedro Martinez.
