After having shone in Buenos Aires, Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie continue their momentum at the Rio de Janeiro Open.
The top two seeds, who played in the Argentina Open final two days ago, looked good in their encounters on Tuesday, although only one was able to complete their match.
Norrie qualified for the round of 16 of this tournament on clay. Alcaraz were one game away from achieving the same before rain forced the game to be called off.
Spaniard Alcaraz, who beat Briton Norrie on Sunday to win Argentina, won the first set 6-4 over Brazilian Mateus Alves and led 5-3 in the second at the break.
Second in the standings and defending champion, Alcaraz struggled with his powerful forehand against Alves, who is world number 556. The game lasted about an hour and 50 minutes before the suspension.
It will resume this Wednesday, and the winner will meet in the next round the Italian Fabio Fognini or the Chilean Tomás Barrios.
Norrie, seeded second and 13th in the standings, beat Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 7-5, 6-1. Norrie led 5-3 in the first set before coming from behind against the 107th ranked.
The 27-year-old Norrie will face local Thiago Monteiro, who knocked out 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem of Austria on Monday.