Sublime Alcaraz breezes into Paris Masters quarters; Ruud knocked out

Paris: World number one Carlos Alcaraz swept aside Grigor Dimitrov 6-1 6-3 to book his place in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday while Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud was ousted by Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti.

Top seed Alcaraz dominated from the outset and dropped just two points on serve in the opening set before fending off a second-set fightback from Bulgarian Dimitrov to close out the match in one hour 12 minutes.

“(Grigor’s) level is very much not the level you saw today, but I played very well,” said Alcaraz, who is chasing a third ATP Masters 1000 title this season. “At the end of the second set it was tougher for me, he came back, he raised the level and obviously it was tough. He had the chance to go up in the second set, I had to stay calm in that moment and show my best to not allow him to go up.”