The second seed of the men Carlos Alcaraz continued to rebuild his on-Court Momentum and rhythm after a short summer vacation by beating the talented young Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of Cincinnati open.
The victory was a positive step for Alcaraz after a rusty performance in his opener against Damir Dzumhur on Sunday, where he won a turbulent three-set match in his first game since he lost the Wimbledon final against Jannik Sinner.
Instead of immediately concentrating on the North -American hard court swing, where the Canadian open in Toronto started two weeks after Wimbledon, Alcaraz took some free time. He took a week off from the practice and was a holiday in El Puerto de Santa Maria, in South Spain, before two weeks of training at home in El Palmar, Murcia.
“When I’m gone, I’m gone,” he said. “I don’t get to the gym at all. Often when we go for a trip, my friends sometimes go to the gym. The first week I had left, I just told them:” I’m going with you for a small run. ” But then I woke up and said, “Go and I stay sleep.” ‘
Medjedovic was a real challenge for Alcaraz. A winner at the next Gen ATP Finals in 2023, two years after the victory of Alcaraz there, the 22-year-old was armed with a large serve and a huge forehand. However, his footwork, conditioning and intensity are all missing at the highest level. With the exception of a short blip in the second set, where he temporarily lost his serve, Alcaraz played a solid game and constantly exposed the movement of Medjedovic when he marched the fourth round.
“I know he is a really powerful player,” said Alcaraz after his 50th victory of the year, which gives him four consecutive seasons with more than 50 victories. That did not happen on the ATP tour since Novak Djokovic achieved the performance in 2013-16. “His shots are incredibly difficult to return. He also has a big serve. I know he doesn’t like to keep from left to right, so my plan was to let him run as much as possible.
“It was difficult because his ball flies and it comes very quickly, but I am just happy that I usually did it, tried to defend in a good way. I am just very happy to win the victory.”
Alcaraz will then be confronted with Luca Nardi, a happy loser, after the 16th seed Jakub Mensik became the newest player who suffers in the heat, retiring his third round game against Nardi when he lagged 6-2, 2-1 behind. In the ladies’ stretching, Coco Gauff switched to the fourth round after a walkover against Dayana Yastremska, the 32nd seed, which withdrew on Tuesday due to illness.
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