ATP: Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic hit the field as aces in Cincinnati

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz struggled, but the young prodigy advanced to his first Cincinnati Masters 1000 semi-final on Friday, beating Australian Max Purcell 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Alcaraz worked hard this week to reach the semi-finals after two more wins in straight sets earlier this week against Australian Jordan Thompson and American Tommy Poole.

The Spaniard ended the duel with his sixth header of the match, moments after saving a break point that would have made it 5-5 in the final set.

Previously, Purcell, the 70th player in the world, has shown opportunism in the returner role, getting the service break on both his first and second chances.

Coming out of the qualifiers, Purcell made his way to the round of 16 by upsetting veteran Swiss Stan Wawrinka and No. 7 Casper Rudd in quick succession.

“I didn’t know him much before the game,” Alcaraz said of Purcell. He impressed me very much. It was a very difficult match. »

For a place in the final, Alcaraz will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin, 6-1, 7-6 (8).

Zverez has a date with Djoker

In the third quarter of the day, German Alexander Zverev, former No. 2 in the ATP rankings, easily defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3 to reach the Final Four in Ohio.

Zverev, who finished the match in just 71 minutes of play, is the champion of the 2021 edition of the Sensei Championship. He has enjoyed winning each of his last nine matches at the Southern & Western Open.

For his part, Novak Djokovic was fast and beat Taylor Fritz with two sets 6-0, 6-4, to end Friday night in Cincinnati.

Fritz, 9^H A world racket, he was gagged in the first set. The American won only 8 points out of 32, in addition to being broken three times on three occasions.

The 25-year-old rebounded in the second set, breaking 2^H ATP rated player. Djokovic got back on offense later in the clash, crushing the crowd favorite to level the score and then take a 5-4 lead.

At the hour mark, Djoker once again breaks his face to complete the episode.

Thus Djokovic and Zverev will cross paths for the twelfth time on the ATP circuit. The veteran has won seven of his first 11 bouts; However, the German has been right in two of the past three meetings.