Alcaraz delivers emphatic win over Borges at Barcelona Open

World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz started his build- up to the French Open with an emphatic second-round win over Nuno Borges at the Barcelona Open yesterday.

The top seed swept aside the world No 79 from Portugal 6-3, 6-1, converting five of his seven break opportunities to secure the win at the Rafa Nadal court.

“It’s always different to play here, it’s not just any other tournament for me,” the 19-year-old Alcaraz said. “I’m at home, with the fans behind me. It’s always special.”

Alcaraz had earlier pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters with the injuries that had hampered his last appearance in the semi-finals in Miami where he succumbed to Jannik Sinner.

He turned up at Miami as the world No 1 after success at Indian Wells, but was knocked off the top of the ATP rankings by Novak Djokovic after his loss to Sinner. The teenager’s bid this week to successfully defend a tour-level title for the first time got off to the best possible start, as he despatched Borges in 63 minutes.

Earlier, Casper Ruud advanced in after beating Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).

The third-seeded Norwegian lost to Shelton last year in Cincinnati, where the American was a relatively unknown college player ranked 229th in the world.

“I wanted my revenge,” Ruud said. “Different surface, different continent, different tournament ... I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal.”

Ruud won his first title of the year in Estoril this month.

Also, Diego Schwartzman defeated Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to set up second-round matchup against fourth-seeded Sinner.

David Goffin beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (4-7), 6-0, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3.