Alcaraz, Ruud, Tsitsipas untroubled in Barcelona openers

The top three betting favourites at the Barcelona Open in Spain navigated their opening matches with ease on Tuesday (local time), with Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas each winning in straight sets at the ATP 500 tournament.

Alcaraz had the stickiest challenge, saving a set point en route to a 6-2, 7-6(6) victory over American qualifier Ethan Quinn.

“It was a difficult match for me, I just had to deal with the pressure and the nerves,” said the top seed, who is a $1.95 favourite to win the tournament across tennis bookmakers.

“But I’m really happy to have won in straight sets and give myself a bit of energy for the next matches.”

Alcaraz arrives in Barcelona having just raised his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy in 13 months at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday, but the Spaniard says he cannot afford to ease up this week.

“The clay season is short and really intense,” he said.

“You have to be at 100% in every match, every tournament.

“Two days ago I playing a final in Monte-Carlo.

“It’s different conditions here, so I couldn’t rest at all, that’s why saving energy is really important right now.”

For Ruud and Tsitsipas, their opening victories were even more straightforward.

Neither dropped serve as Ruud beat Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-3, while Tsitsipas raced past the big-serving Reilly Opelka for the loss of just four games, 6-2, 6-2.

The duo met in the final of the Barcelona Open in 2024 and are now priced at $7.50 and $8.50 respectively by BetOnline to win the event.

Alex de Minaur ($12) and Arthur Fils ($15) also navigated their opening matches with little issue, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Pablo Carreno Busta respectively in straight sets.

Ninth seed Frances Tiafoe was the only seed to fall on Tuesday, going down 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 to local player Jaume Munar.

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