The Spaniard beat Australian Max Purcell 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
The Serbian got rid of Fritz with authority 6-0 and 6-4
The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz and the serbian Novak Djokovic They advanced this Friday to the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1,000, in which they will respectively face the Polish Hubert Hurkacz and the German Alexander Zverev with the possibility of repeating the final of the last Wimbledon. Alcaraz needed a new battle to beat the Australian Max Purcellwhile Djokovic completely overwhelmed the American taylor fritz. In the women’s circuit, the Polish Iga Swiatek will face the American Coco Gauff, while the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka will face Karolina Muchova.
Alcaraz, first semis in Cincinnati
Alcaraz was against the ropes, but he overcame Purcell, number 70 in the world, and won by 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4 to advance to the Cincinnati semifinals for the first time.
The Spaniard found himself in a familiar situation. Last year, on this same track and in this round, he was a break ahead of the British Cameron Norrie. He failed to take advantage of it and ended up eliminated. This year, with two more ‘greats’ to his credit and as number one in the world, he did not make the same mistake. He waited for his chance and this time he sealed the ticket to the semifinals. “Those kinds of experiences help a lot, the ones I lived for example in the quarterfinals last year here in Cincinnati, the experiences I have lived during this last year also help a lot to live these situations in another way, to feel experienced”, Alcaraz told Agencia EFE on the sidelines of his press conference in Cincinnati. “Today I have been able to get it for all the times that I did not get it in recent years, in years ago, the truth is that I am very happy to be able to improve little by little with the passage of time,” he added.
Djokovic, dominant
Djokovic, number two in the world, continues to show a great level on his return to the United States, where he had not competed for two years due to his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Nole, 36, gave Fritz no chance and defeated him in just 61 minutes to add his seventh victory in seven precedents against the North American.
The Serb will play against Zverevwinner against the French Adrian Mannarinothe ninth semifinal of his career in Cincinnati, where he was champion in 2018 and 2020. Djokovic won seven of the previous eleven against Zverev, who triumphed in this tournament in 2021.
Swiatek-Gauff, main course of the WTA semis
Iga Swiateknumber one in the world, won by 7-6(3) and 6-1 to the czech Marketa Vondrousovanumber 10 in the ranking, and will face in the semifinals Coco Gauffseventh favourite, who beat the Italian Jasmine Paulini by 6-3 and 6-2.
Swiatek, champion this year in Doha, Stuttgart, Roland Garros and Warsaw, needed an hour and 31 minutes to knock down Vondrousova, a rival she had already beaten at the 2020 Parisian ‘big’. The Polish player added her victory number 53 this year and defends the first position in the ranking since April 2022.
Gauff barely spent 72 minutes on court against Paolini and will seek to break his 0-7 record in clashes with Swiatek, who denied him the title at the 2022 Roand Garros and also beat him this year in the quarterfinals of the Parisian Open.
The other semifinal will be played by Aryna Sabalenka against the Czech Karolina Muchovaworld number 17, who advanced through the withdrawal of his compatriot Marie Bouzkova when he was leading 3-0. Sabalenka won by 7-5 and 6-3 Tunisian Ons Jabeurwho played the second part of the second set stopped by a physical problem for which she requested medical assistance twice.