Carlos Alcaraz put his name in the record book alongside Novak Djokovic when he secured a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic on Tuesday in third-round action at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.
The second-seeded Spaniard earned his 50th win of the year, which gives the 22-year-old four consecutive seasons with 50-plus victories. That hasn’t happened on the ATP Tour since Djokovic accomplished the feat in 2013-16.
While Medjedovic racked up more winners than Alcaraz (25-15), he also committed 38 unforced errors to just 18 as Alcaraz fared better overall with his serves and return game.
“I know he’s a really powerful player,” Alcaraz said. “His shots are incredibly hard to return. He has a big serve also. I know he doesn’t like to run too much from side to side, so my plan was to make him run as much as I could.
“It was difficult because his ball flies and it comes really fast, but I’m just glad that I did it most of the time, tried to defend in a good way. I’m just really happy to get the win.”
In the most even match of the day, No. 9 Andrey Rublev of Russia rallied for a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over No. 21 Alexei Popyrin of Australia. Both men were on top of their service game as Popyrin powered 20 aces while Rublev produced 18.
Rublev moved into a fourth-round matchup with Argentina’s unseeded Francisco Comesana, who saved three match points while rallying to defeat Reilly Opelka 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5. Opelka generated 27 aces, but the 6-foot-11 American committed 57 unforced errors — 30 more than Comesana.
No. 14 Karen Khachanov of Russia secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Jenson Brooksby. In the afternoon’s lone upset, No. 16 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic retired with Italy’s Luca Nardi leading 6-2, 2-1. Nardi, ranked 98th in the world, advances to face Alcaraz.
No. 22 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic was taken to the limit in a two-set victory over Australian Adam Walton. Lehecka prevailed 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), blasting 42 winners and 17 service aces and never trailing in either tiebreaker.
In the evening session, lightning in the area forced a suspension in play at 9:03 p.m. and heavy rains followed, resulting in the cancellation of all competition 30 minutes later.
No. 3 Alexander Zverev was a game away from eliminating No. 27 Brandon Nakashima when the match was halted. The German led 6-4, 5-4 and will serve to advance when play resumes on Wednesday.
Fifth-seeded Ben Shelton never got on the court to face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut. Their third round match will also take place on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
