Carlos Alcaraz responded to losing the Monte-Carlo Masters final by reaching the last 16 at the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets win over Otto Virtanen. 

Alcaraz was replaced as the world number one by Jannik Sinner following Sunday's defeat, but he responded here with a controlled 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 25 minutes. 

During a tense opening set, Alcaraz was put through his paces by Virtanen, who squandered four break points across the third and fifth games of the opening set. 

And he was made to pay for those missed opportunities when Alcaraz got the better of his serve in the final game, with the Spaniard taking the lead at the second attempt. 

From there, the top seed assumed control, breaking Virtanen early in the second set, only for his Finnish opponent to return the favour and get back to within one game.

However, Alcaraz hit back with a love service game against the serve and sealed his progression in the same manner, teeing up a date with Tomas Machac in the next round. 

"It feels great to be back and to get another win in front of my people in Barcelona, it means everything," Alcaraz said.

"This morning was my first practice here to adapt to the conditions. Different conditions to Monte-Carlo but overall I am really happy with the way that I played."

Elsewhere in Barcelona, there was no trouble for both second and third seeds Lorenzo Musetti and Alex de Minaur, who also progressed from their opening-round ties. 

Musetti emerged with a 7-5 6-2 victory over home hopeful Martin Landaluce, which was his first victory since the Australian Open last 16 against Taylor Fritz. 

The Italian will take on Corentin Moutet for a place in the quarter-finals, while De Minaur will face qualifier Hamad Medjedovic after his 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 win against Sebastian Ofner. 

Data Debrief: Alcaraz aiming for Barca hat-trick

Only Rafael Nadal (12) has won more titles in Barcelona than two-time champion Alcaraz, and the seven-time grand slam champion will be confident of adding another to his tally.

But Alcaraz did not have it all his own way, with Virtanen edging the first-serve points statistics (66% to Alcaraz's 64% success rate), though the difference was the Spaniard being able to save five of the six break points he faced.