Carlos Alcaraz bested Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 7-6 (13-11) in the second round of the 2026 Vienna Open on Thursday. The Spaniard saved four set points in a dramatic second-set tie-break to secure his place in the quarter-finals.
The World No. 3 completed the victory in one hour and 41 minutes to reach his 60th ATP Tour quarter-final. He also extended his winning streak at the ATP 500 level to 23 matches.
Alcaraz dominated the opening set, winning five consecutive games from 1-1 to take the set by 6-1.
“I would say I played great, overall, from the beginning to the last point,” Alcaraz said. “I played great tennis and I’m really happy with the performance that I did today. In the first set I was hitting the ball unbelievably and was feeling great on the court. I felt like he couldn’t play his style. Then in the second set I started pretty well, the same as the first set, but that game at 3-2, serving at him with a couple of mistakes, and he raised his level.
“I let him get into the match again. After that I would say it was really close. He was playing great, and obviously that tie-break. He had three easy balls to win the set, and I had three easy balls to win the match. I ended up missing the chances, but I’m just really happy with the way that I fought back.”
The Spaniard will next take on USA’S Tommy Paul, who earlier defeated Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1. Alcaraz leads the seventh-seeded Paul 7-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The seven-time Slam champion had earlier beaten the American in the Australian Open and the US Open.
