RIO DE JANEIRO: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat countryman Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Monday, advancing to the Round of 16 of the Rio Open clay-court tournament.
Alcaraz, who won his first professional title last year in Umag, also on clay, is ranked 29th. His first professional victory in the circuit also came in Rio de Janeiro, two years ago.
“I felt like home today, it is very hard to have that so far from where I came from," the 18-year-old said before a joyous Brazilian crowd.
In other matches, Spain's Pablo Andújar topped Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (2), 7-5. Another Spaniard, Pedro Martinez, eliminated China's Shang Juncheng 6-3, 6-4.
Three seeded players will be in action in round-of -6 matches on Tuesday: Chile's Christian Garin (5), Italy's Lorenzo Sonego (6) and Spain's Albert Ramos-Viñolas (8).
Two top-10 players are in the field. Italy's Matteo Berretini, ranked No. 6, and Norway's Casper Ruud, who moved to No. 8 after winning the Argentina Open on Sunday.