Cincinnati Masters: Alcaraz books spot in last four, defeating Rublev 7-5 in the third
Carlos Alcaraz edged out Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
Carlos Alcaraz, Cincinnati 2025 | © Claude Cabit / PsNewz
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, edged out Russian Andrey Rublev, the No. 9 seed, after a severe battle, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, to reach the last four of the Cincinnati Masters at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Friday.
While he seemed to be calmly leading the match until 3-3 in the second set, Alcaraz had to give up the second against a very aggressive Rublev, who was almost in a state of grace, hitting 11 winners and making 4 unforced errors in that set.
In a tense third set, both players went through ups and downs. Alcaraz found his best form again to break Rublev and serve for the match at 5-3. But caught up in the tension, he allowed the Russian to come back to 5-4 and then 5-5. At 6-5 in his favor, Alcaraz benefited from increased tension on Rublev’s side, who committed two double faults in the final game, including one on the Spaniard’s first match point.
Alcaraz on a 37-2 run
As at Wimbledon, the Russian was close to the Spaniard in terms of level of play, but Alcaraz was able to find the resources to achieve what mattered most. The world No. 2 now leads their head-to-head 4-1 against Rublev.
Alcaraz will face the winner of the match between American Ben Shelton, the No. 5 seed, and German Alexander Zverev, the No. 3 seed, next. The pending quarterfinal is scheduled during the night session.
Alcaraz is now on a 37-2 run on Tour. In the previous rounds of the Cincinnati tournament, the 22-year-old Spaniard defeated Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi (6-1, 6-4), Serb Hamad Medjedovic (6-4, 6-4), and Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (6-1, 2-6, 6-3).
Rublev, ranked No. 11, beat Argentinian Francisco Comesana (6-2, 6-3), Australian Alexei Popyrin, the No. 21 seed (6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5), and American Learner Tien (7-6 (4), 6-3).
Cincinnati Masters 1000, other quarter-finals results (Lindner Family Tennis Center, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):
- Ben Shelton vs. Alexander Zverev
- Terence Atmane (Q) beat Holger Rune (7): 6-2, 6-3
- Jannik Sinner (1) beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (23): 6-0, 6-2
