MASON, Ohio: Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will meet Sunday for the Western & Southern Open in a rematch of their Wimbledon final.
The top-ranked Alcaraz erased a match point in the second set and rallied past unseeded Hubert Hurkacz 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the first men’s semifinal Saturday.
Then, No. 2 Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev, the 2021 tournament champ, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to earn a shot at his third title in the US Open tuneup.
Alcaraz won six straight points in the second-set tiebreaker to reach his eighth final of the season. He beat Djokovic last month at Wimbledon to win his second major title and deny the 36-year-old Djokovic his 23rd.
Alcaraz, 20, is the youngest Cincinnati finalist since 19-year-old Pete Sampras in 1991. He is trying to become the youngest champion since Boris Becker won at 17 in 1985.
Despite going to a third set in each of his four matches this week, Alcaraz says he’ll be ready for the final.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m playing third sets or long matches, I’m recovering really well,” Alcaraz said. “I feel like I’m going to play the first match of the tournament. I feel great.”
Last week in Toronto, Alcaraz needed two tiebreakers to beat Hurkacz after losing the first set.
“Playing against Hubert is always tough,” Alcaraz said, “We played until the final ball. I was really happy to get that win today. He’s one of the best servers in the tour.”
Djokovic, 36, is the oldest Cincinnati finalist in the professional era, dating to 1968, surpassing 35-year old Ken Rosewell in 1970.
Alcaraz and Djokovic meet Sunday in a rematch of the Wimbledon final
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Alcaraz and Djokovic meet Sunday in a rematch of the Wimbledon final
- The top-ranked Alcaraz rallied past unseeded Hubert Hurkacz 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the first men’s semifinal Saturday
- No. 2 Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev 7-6 (5), 7-5 to earn a shot at his third title in the US Open tuneup
Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2
World number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his dominant run at Indian Wells, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
The Spaniard relied on a near-flawless service game to seize control of the match, racing through the opening set in just 37 minutes after breaking Ruud’s serve three times.
Thirteenth-seeded Ruud raised his level in the second set and forced a tiebreak, hoping to push the match to a decider, but Alcaraz kept his foot on the gas to seal his 15th consecutive victory of the season to reach the quarter-finals for a fifth straight year.
“The conditions were difficult to be honest. Today the ball was tough to control but we both played great,” two-time champion Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“My first set was incredible I’m really happy of playing that kind of level, really happy to get through and hopefully I’ll play this level on the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2, with the Spaniard looking to avenge a defeat to the Briton at last year’s Paris Masters.
SWIATEK, PEGULA THROUGH
World number two Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory over Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, reeling off 10 consecutive games to secure her fifth win over the Czech, whom she also beat at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“I felt I was playing better and better, just great,” Swiatek said.
“I love playing here ... It’s a great place to play tennis, hopefully I can keep doing that until the end.”
Swiatek, chasing a third Indian Wells title, will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian advanced when Katerina Siniakova retired injured.
American fifth seed Jessica Pegula overcame Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6(5) to secure her first victory in five meetings between the pair.
Pegula, coming off a dramatic comeback win over Jelena Ostapenko, took control as she clinched the opening set — her first ever against the Swiss — before edging a tightly contested tiebreak to close out the match.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2 6-4 in a commanding performance, needing just one hour and 27 minutes to dismantle the American and maintain his strong form after winning last month’s Dubai Open.
