Alcaraz Struggles At Cincinnati Masters; Shelton v Tsitsipas, Djokovic Makes Return To USA

Carlos Alcaraz struggled in his Cincinnati Masters opener getting past Jordan Thompson 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Alcaraz got through a 30 minute rain delay but found himself down a break 4-2 in the opener. Thompson’s game would fall apart, giving the Spaniard a slew of errors.

In the second, Thompson wouldn’t go away. He again would broke and again would give it back, this time while trying to serve for the second at 5-3. However, he would break right back to force a decider.

Alcaraz, though, would jump out to a quick break and that would be enough to claim his 50th win of the season.

American No. 1 Taylor Fritz opened the day with a marathon opening set breaker win then rolled past Jiri Lehecka 7-6(16-14), 6-2. The Czech had five set points in the breaker but double faulted on two of them! Lehecka would eventually double fault on a Fritz’s seventh set point.

“The courts are fast and bouncy,” Fritz said to the ATP. “Everything wants to fly and on top of that, everything is super windy. I was just trying to put the ball in court.

“I just had to feel it out at the beginning. As much as I wanted to pull the trigger on big points, if it is not there, it is not there, so you have to do what you feel comfortable and hit the ball you feel you can make under pressure.”

Emil Ruusuvuori kept Andrey Rublev’s struggles in big events going at the Cincinnati Masters.

The 24-year-old Finnish star upset the 7th-ranked Rublev in a final set No. 7 Andrey Rublev 7-6(12-10), 5-7, 7-6(7-3). And then overcame a 2-0 break deficit in the decider.

After a win in his opener against Matteo Berrettini, Felix Auger-Aliassime fell back in the loss column going down to 35-year-old Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4. The Canadian who just turned 23 last week has now lost eight of his last 10 matches.

Canadian Open finalist Alex De Minaur kept rolling easing past J.J. Wolf 6-0, 3-6, 6-1. No. 14 Tommy Paul eliminated Miomir Kecmanovic in straights 7-5, 7-6(7-2).

French favorite Gael Monfils shock off some knee issues to bounce the 13th-seeded Cameron Norrie in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Defending champion Borna Coric came back from the rain-out yesterday to finish off Sebastian Korda 7-6(7-5), 6-4.

The 16th-seeded Alexander Zverev steamrolled Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in a battle of former champions.

“I think I adjusted to the conditions a bit better and maybe was a bit more patient than him as well, but always when you play against Grigor, especially in the early rounds, it’s very dangerous,” said Zverev. “He’s somebody that hits the ball very hard, a very aggressive player, and you have to be there all the time. I was, from start to finish, and I’m very happy with that.”

Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti ousted 33-year-old Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-3. Hubert Hurkacz battled past Thanasi Kokkinakis in a match that went the distance 7-6(7-2), 3-6, 7-6(7-1). (

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sent off Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3 and Stan Wawrinka defeated wrapped up his win over Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-7(5-7), 6-3.

Tomorrow, Novak Djokovic makes his long-awaited return to play in the U.S.A. Due to COVID policies, the Serb hasn’t played in America since his 2021 US Open loss to Medvedev.

The 2-time champion takes on Davidovich Fokina. Djokovic has won three of four tour-level head-to-head meetings when facing Davidovich Fokina including at the French Open this year.

“He has everything of Rafa and Federer. His body is so elastic and he can be very, very solid and he has the weapons to push you to make errors. Then he has winners. He’s very good serving,” Davidovich Fokina said to te ATP. “But the key of his is that he sees the match very good.”

No. 3 Daniil Medvedev faces Musetti for the second straight week after beating the Italian in Canada in their first meeting.

No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas will challenge Ben Shelton, No. 5 Casper Ruud will meet Max Purcell, No. 6 Holger Rune battles Mackenzie McDonald, Canadian Open champion Jannik Sinner clashes with Dusan Lajovic and No. 10 Frances Tiafoe will meet Wawrinka.

WEDNESDAY CINCINNATI SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT
Starting At: 11:00 am
WTA [Q] Martina Trevisan (ITA) vs Jessica Pegula (USA) [3]
Not Before 12:00 PM
WTA Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs [WC] Danielle Collins (USA)
ATP Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [4] vs Ben SHELTON (USA)

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP Alejandro DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP) vs Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) [2]
Not Before 8:30 PM
WTA Mayar Sherif (EGY) vs Coco Gauff (USA) [7]

GRANDSTAND
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Lorenzo MUSETTI (ITA) vs Daniil MEDVEDEV [3]
ATP Jannik SINNER (ITA) [8] vs [Q] Dusan LAJOVIC (SRB)
Not Before 3:00 PM
WTA Qinwen Zheng (CHN) vs [WC] Venus Williams (USA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA [Q] Ann Li (USA) vs Aryna Sabalenka [2]
ATP Frances TIAFOE (USA) [10] vs [WC] Stan WAWRINKA (SUI)

You Might Like:
Alcaraz Advances Past Evans; Tsitsipas, Fritz Fall In Shanghai; Sinner v Shelton Tues.
Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz All On Brutal Half Of French Open Draw
2024 Shanghai Masters Day 9: Sinner v Medvedev, Alcaraz v Machac In QFs; Djokovic Wins
Djokovic Back As Davidovich Fokina Backs Out At Cincinnati Masters, Wawrinka In Peak Form; Alcaraz v Paul Rematch
2024 Cincinnati Masters Day 4: Alcaraz v Monfils, Gauff, Sabalenka