Alcaraz Pleased With Difficult Win

Spaniard overcomes powerful Medjedovic despite not being in best physical shape

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CINCINNATI - Carlos Alcaraz beat the heat and humidity of a Midwest summer, as the world No. 2 advanced to the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on Aug 12.

The Spanish second seed kept his exposure to a minimum in 32 deg C conditions, taking an efficient 95 minutes to dispatch Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4, for his 50th match win of 2025.

"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, tried to move him around as much as possible.

"But it was difficult with the ball flying so much and his shots coming so fast. I tried to defend in a good way."

The 22-year-old Alcaraz has been on a tear in 2025 as he chases world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings, and now owns 13 straight victories at the Masters 1000 level.

He will play Luca Nardi on Aug 13 (Aug 14 morning, Singapore time) for a quarter-final spot, after the Italian defeated Jakub Mensik 6-2, 2-1 with the Czech retiring after 43 minutes.