Djokovic Knocks Out Fritz In Cincinnati Masters QFs, Zverev Ahead; Alcaraz To Face Hurkacz
Novak Djokovic moved into his 75th career Masters semifinal cruising past American No. 1 Taylor Fritz 6-0, 6-4 Friday night at the Cincinnati Masters.
Fritz, who fell to 0-7 against Djokovic, actually was up in the second set 4-1
Djokovic hit four doubles, won 21/26 (81%) of first serves, was 5 of 6 on break chances, was broken once but broke serve five times in the match. Fritz won just 6 of 22 points on second serve.
“Every match is a new match, a new challenge for both of us,” Djokovic said to the ATP. “We never faced each other here. Obviously being the No. 1 American, he gets a lot of crowd support.
“I just managed to get off the blocks really strong, played an almost perfect, flawless first set. Then I started off really poorly in the second and handed him the break, but from 2-4 down I played really four solid games in the second. Just overall a great performance.”
Djokovic will now take a fellow Cincinnati champion in Alexander Zverev in the semifinal. The German rolled past Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic leads Zverev 7-4 in their tour-level clashes. Zverev was victorious in their last collision in the 2021 Tour Finals semifinals.
After a tough win over Tommy Paul, Carlos Alcaraz figured to have an easier day against qualifier Max Purcell. That was far from the case as Alcaraz had to again rally from a set down to advance this time 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Alcaraz was plagued by eight double faults and uneven play, but Purcell has been in form. Alcaraz went up 2-0 in the third with a 40-0 lead for another break, but Purcell escaped and eventually got back on serve.
“It was really tough. It was tricky today. He served really well. I think he played well at the net, but I think I played well. I returned well on court and that was the key to getting the win today, to return very well and to focus,” Alcaraz said. “It was not easy but I am really, really happy to reach my seventh Masters 1000 semi-final and first here in Cincinnati.”
Alcaraz has won all three matches in three sets this week, and now faces tomorrow someone he went to a final set breaker with in Canada, Hubert Hurkacz.
Hurkacz ousted lucky loser Alexei Popyrin 6-1, 7-6(10-8).
“It was a tough match in Toronto,” Alcaraz said of Hurkacz. “He is playing great tennis here and the court is a little bit faster than Toronto, so it is probably better for his game with his big serve. I need to be focused on return to put as much as I can in court.”
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