Despite extreme heat and high humidity he encountered in the Midwest, Carlos Alcaraz kept his cool and was able to move on to the fourth round at the Cincinnati Open ATP and WTA on Tuesday, thus marking his 50th victory of the season.
In just 95 minutes world No. 2 took a clear 6-4, 6-4 win over Hamad Medjedovic from Serbia, which enabled him to extend the winning streak at Masters 1000 to 13 matches.
Alcaraz conveyed his tactics, “I really tried to move him as much as possible. The ball was flying and his shots were fast, but I’m proud to play my best tennis even when I’m not feeling perfect physically.” The Spanish player will face Italy’s Luca Nardi next as the 21-year-old moved on after a retirement by Czech Jakob Mensik at 2-6, 1-2.
Besides, weather was causing troubles for the schedule. Alexander Zverev was a game away from defeating Brandon Nakashima when play was stopped due to lightning and Jessica Pegula’s match against Magda Linette was also interrupted. Rain also prevented the Toronto champion Ben Shelton from taking his match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Moreover, Karen Khachanov beat Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3. Francisco Comesano escaped from Reilly Opelka’s furious fight 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 in a three-hour battle, which was halted with heat, rain, and medical timeouts. Comesano has become the first Argentine player to reach the last 16 at Cincinnati since 2022 and will now take on Andrey Rublev, who defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5.
In the women’s tournament, a day of Coco Gauff made no difference because she advanced by default after Dayana Yastremska abandoned the match due to illness.
The Cincinnati champion from last year will now meet the Italian, Lucia Bronzetti, who defeated Jelena Ostapenko 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini defeated Ashlyn Krueger 7-6(2), 6-1 without much trouble and qualifier Ella Seidel was able to overtake McCartney Kessler 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(6).
Two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova previously also made it through after winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 against Iva Jovic.
