Carlos Alcaraz has his best performance against Luca Nardi to reach the Cincinnati quarterfinals.

SpaniardCarlos Alcaraz qualified for the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 (United States) on Wednesday after defeating Italian Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4.

Alcaraz played his most solid match of the tournament , in which he competes after a month away from the courts following the final loss at Wimbledon to Jannik Sinner.

The Murcian player had a very solid first set, taking a 3-0 lead in the blink of an eye after breaking Nardi on his first serve. It was a real statement of intent.

After that first shot, Nardi tried to make his serve stronger, but Alcaraz broke again after four break points to go 5-1 up and win the set at love while serving.

The first set lasted just 27 minutes , with the Murcian player dominating uncontestedly. The second was very different.

Nardi, three months younger than Alcaraz, defended his serve tooth and nail in a tight start until he earned the first break to go 2-4 up. But far from giving the Italian wings, that break was the spark that unleashed Alcaraz.

The Murcian returned the break in the next game, tying the set at 4-4.

Nardi and Alcaraz played an epic ninth game, which lasted nearly 13 minutes, in which the Spaniard enjoyed five break points and was decided by two double faults from the Italian.

At 5-4 and serving, the Spaniard only had to defend his game to advance to the quarterfinals. He closed the match with 11 winners and 22 unforced errors , while Nardi finished with 8 and 30, respectively.

Furthermore, the Spaniard won 83% of points on his first serve and 56% on his second, compared to 63% and 39%, respectively, for the Italian.

"My best game of this tournament. I'm getting better and better, in every training session and in every match. I'm very happy with how I felt the ball and how I moved today ," Alcaraz said in a courtside statement after the match.

In the quarterfinals, he faces Russian Andrey Rublev (world number 11) , who on Wednesday defeated Argentine Francisco Comesaña (number 71) 6-2 and 6-3 in one hour and 4 minutes.