Aslan Karatsev beat Diego Schwartzman for the second time this year with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 win after 1 hour and 49 minutes to secure his spot in the third round at the Madrid Mutua Open at the Caja Magica. Karatsev has scored his fourth top 10 win of the season.
Schwartzman built up a 6-2 2-0 lead with two breaks in the first and seventh games of the opening set and another break in the first game of the second set. Karatsev clawed his way back into the match and broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. The Russian player won seven consecutive games from 4-4 with a break in the 10th game and two breaks in the second and fourth games to race out to 5-0 in the third set. Schwartzman saved a break point to hold serve at deuce for 1-5, but Karatsev closed out the match on his second match point.
The Russian player beat Schwartzman 6-3 6-3 6-3 in the third round at the 2021 Australian Open.
Karatsev will face Alexander Bublik for a spot in the quarter finals.
