The seventh-seeded Alcaraz defeated third-seeded Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 to become the youngest ATP 500 champion since the category was created in 2009
Ruud told a news conference that he was still feeling the effects of an injury he picked up during Sunday's final of the Argentina Open, which he won.
The coronavirus has killed more than 320,000 people in the South American nation, with March being its deadliest month since the pandemic began.
Dominic Thiem beat Jaume Munar 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in a match that took 2 hours, 41 minutes and ended early Friday.
Cuevas reached the next round after defeating Spain's Albert Ramos 6-3,3-6,6-3 in a 150-minute match on Friday and emerged the favourite to win the title.
Schwartzman, seeded sixth in the clay-court event at Jockey Club Brasileiro, will enter the Top 20 in the world for the first time Monday. He also won an outdoor clay event in Istanbul in 2016.
Verdasco will play fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1 winner over Alijaz Bedene of Slovenia in the late match.
Cilic won only one match on the clay in Rio in his first tournament since he reached the Australian Open final in January.
Monfils finished Cilic off in 5 minutes after their match was interrupted by heavy rain on Wednesday night.
Fognini, seeded fifth, was serving for the second set against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil when the racket slipped from his hand after serving.
Rio de Janerio: Rafael Nadal was beaten in the semifinals of the Rio Open on Saturday, losing 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 on clay to Italian Fabio Fognini, who will meet David Ferrer in the final.Nadal has
Rio de Janeiro: Rafael Nadal returned from a troublesome back injury to win the Rio Open on Sunday, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (3). Nadal's victory comes four weeks after losing the Australian
Rio de Janeiro: World No.1 Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals of the Rio Open with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes.The 27-year-old will now face the winner of the second-round match
Rio De Janeiro: Second-seeded David Ferrer overcame a tough first set to advance to the Rio Open quarterfinals with a 7-6 (2), 6-1 win over Argentina's Federico Delbonis on Wednesday. Ferrer joins fellow-Spaniard Tommy Robredo
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