19-year-old Alcaraz is on his way to defend his Barcelona Open title. This is his first tournament since Miami.
“Today was really tough. The conditions, it wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz said, speaking of the heavy winds that led to a combined eight breaks of serve.
“Of course, I had to adapt my game from the wind. It was really tough. Roberto’s a great player, a really solid player. I had to stay focused all the time, be there all the time and try to take my chances.”
The win against his countryman now puts Alcaraz’s win against fellow Spaniards at 9-1.
In the quarterfinals, he will go up against another Spanish player – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Also going through to the quarterfinals is Greek player Tsitsipas who beat Shapovalov.
“I tried to stay as aggressive as I could from the baseline,” Tsitsipas said.
“Against Denis, you have to keep up with the pace and be ready to attack when you can. It wasn’t easy out here but I did a very good job. I was responsible with my decision-making. It was a good day.”
He will next go up against Australian Alex de Minaur who beat Grigor Dimitrov to advance.
This is the fifth time that the Greek player has played in Barcelona. He had previously reached the finals in 2018 and 2021 but was beaten by Rafael Nadal both times.