Barcelona, Spain, 18 April 2025 | AAP
Alex De Minaur continued his superb clay-court form to set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal showdown with Carlos Alcaraz in Barcelona.
De Minaur eased into round two with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier in the week and again proved his credentials on the red surface on Thursday, powering to a 6-1 6-2 victory over Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in just 62 minutes.
Fearnley came in as a lucky loser for his first professional event on clay at any level and beat Roberto Carballes Baena in his opening match.
He was ranked outside the top 600 a year ago, before winning four ATP Challenger titles in 2024 to rise inside the top 100, but he was no match for the Sydney-born world No.7 in Barcelona.
> READ: De Minaur makes top-10 surge after Monte Carlo semifinal
The big-hitting fifth seed did not look back after breaking in the opening game, with Fearnley unable to make much of an impression on his opponent’s serve, winning just three of 23 points.
De Minaur last week signalled his clay-court intentions by reaching the last four at the Monte Carlo Masters before losing to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
> READ: Demon advances to Monte Carlo semifinals
This latest win has propelled the 26-year-old into his 50th tour-level quarterfinal. He is the third man born in 1999 or later to achieve that feat, alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner.
He will now face world No.2 Alcaraz, who stepped up his quest for a third Barcelona title by defeating Laslo Djere in straight sets.
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