Three hours and nine minutes until Carlos Alcaraz's quarter pass at the Cincinnati Masters 1,000, but the duel with Tommy Paul lasted almost six hours if the three interruptions due to rain are considered. Alcaraz took his revenge with the help of Rocky Balboa. "I put on a video of Rocky, I always wear the training from the Rocky 4 movie, the training between Iván Drago and Rocky, that video is key for me," he told the press conference after his 7-6 victory (5), 6-7(0) and 6-4.
Novak Djokovic, who increased his record balance to 19-0 against the Frenchman Gael Monfils, and the Polish Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament on Thursday. The day was marked by the eliminations of the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who fell 6-4, 5-7 and 6-4 against the German Alexander Zverev, and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, finalist last year, who barely lasted one hour and four minutes. against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (6-3 and 6-4).
After the battle won in his debut against the Australian Jordan Thompson, Alcaraz needed another huge effort to knock down Paul, a rival who had beaten him in two of the three previous clashes and who had just struck him down in Toronto.
An a priori more accessible rival now awaits him in the quarterfinals. It will be Australian Max Purcell, number 70 in the world, an opponent he has never played against in his career.
"He has been playing at a very high level, he has just beaten very, very top players. I have not seen him play a lot, I will have to watch several videos, several games that he has played in recent tournaments, see where he is weak, where he is better, and from Hence, talk to Juan Carlos (Ferrero) and see the game's tactics. If he's there, he deserves it, and we're going to try to show our best level to try to win and play our first semifinals here," said Alcaraz, in statements collected by EFE .
Djokovic increased his record against Monfils to 19-0 to sign the longest unbeaten streak against a single opponent in the Open era. The Serb, number two in the world, did not give an option to Monfils, number 211, who was playing the Cincinnati tournament with a protected ranking.
His record of 19-0 against Monfils leaves behind the mark of the Spanish Rafa Nadal against the French Richard Gasquet, who remains at 18-0 for the moment.
There was no shortage of surprising results, with Zverev eliminating Medvedev, a semifinalist last year, by winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and the Pole Hubert Hurkacz knocking down the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, a finalist last year, by winning for a resounding 6-3 and 6-4.
Zverev, number 16 in the world, acknowledged at the end of the game that last week in Toronto he asked Alcaraz for advice on how to approach the game against Medvedev. The Murcian beat the Russian twice this season, and without losing a set.
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino awaits Zverev, while Hurkacz will play Australian Alexei Popyrin. The winner of this last confrontation will meet in the semifinals against one between Alcaraz and Purcell.
Swiatek, number one in the world, came back to beat the Chinese Qinwen Zheng 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 and qualify for the quarterfinals, in which she will play against the Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
The tournament lost Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who withdrew due to injury to Italian Jasmine Paolini, and Jessica Pegula, the recent champion in Montreal. Pegula fell 6-4, 6-0 against the Czech Marie Bouzkova, number 35 in the world. The Greek María Sakkari, number eight in the ranking, was also eliminated, beaten 6-3, 2-6 and 6-3 by the Czech Karolina Muchova, number 17 in the world.
