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 win for the second-seeded Spaniard was his 50th 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 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 rallied to defeat Reilly Opelka 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5. Opelka’s 147 m.p.h. serve 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, who ranks 98th in the world, advances to face Alcaraz on Wednesday night.
In later action in Cincinnati on Tuesday, No. 22 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic goes up against Aussie Adam Walton while No. 3 Alexander Zverev faces No. 27 Brandon Nakashima and No. 5 Ben Shelton takes on Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain.
–Field Level Media
