Alcaraz advances before rain wrecks Cincy schedule

Carlos Alcaraz moved safely through into the Cincinnati Masters fourth round with hours to spare before rain and thunder moved into the area on Tuesday to throw  the schedule into a jam.

The second seed advanced in steamy 32 Celsius conditions, winning in 95 minutes over Serb Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4.

It was his 50th match win of the year and 13th in a row at Masters events.

“Medjedovic doesn’t like to run that much, so I tried to move him around as much as possible,” Alcaraz said. 

“But it was difficult with the ball flying so much and his shots coming so fast. I tried to defend in a good way.”

He now plays for the quarter-finals against Luca Nardi, who moved to the last 16 when Czech Jakob Mensik retired to hand over a 6-2, 2-1 win in 42 minutes.

“I was really happy to get the win in a very difficult match,” Alcaraz said. “You 
have to stay positive and play your best tennis on the day. I’m proud about that. It’s a goal of the season.”

Third seed Alexander Zverev stalled due to evening rain while holding a 6-4, 5-4 lead over Brandon Nakashima and ready to serve for the match.

Waiting for the winner is Toronto finalist Karen Khachanov, who beat Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3.

Main photo:-Carlos Alcaraz winning in Cincy – by ATPTour.com