Carlos Alcaraz defies sweltering conditions in Cincinnati Open win

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.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz, who is preparing for the upcoming US Open, added: “I was really happy to get the win in a very difficult match.

“The season is very long and in at least half of your matches, you don’t feel that good (physically). But you have to stay positive and play your best tennis on the day.

“I’m proud about that. It’s a goal of the season.”

The Spaniard advanced hours before rainstorms and lightning spoiled the evening session, leaving players stranded in third-round matches.

Third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany was set to serve for the match against Brandon Nakashima, leading the American 6-4, 5-4 when the match was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

It was a similar situation for American fourth seed Jessica Pegula, fighting back against Pole Magda Linette, who won the first set 7-6 (7-5), before the 2024 finalist claimed the second stanza 6-3.

Earlier, Francisco Comesana and Reilly Opelka both felt the heat of their midday match, which was interrupted for 45 minutes by rain, as Comesana limped to a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5 win after saving three match points.

Comesana, 24, needed a medical timeout midway through the second set, but came back out to continue what turned into a fight of over three hours against the big-serving American.

Opelka, 27, called for the doctor just moments from his eventual loss, complaining of dizziness and high blood pressure after being broken for 5-6 in the final set.

After a quick consultation at his chair, Opelka was back on court to weakly scoop a return into the net on his opponent’s second match point.

The 71st-ranked Comesana will face Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

He is the first Argentinian to make the last 16 at Cincinnati since Diego Schwartzman in 2022.

In the women’s draw, second seed Coco Gauff eased into the fourth round when opponent Dayana Yastremska withdrew before their match due to illness, the WTA said.

The American, who won the 2023 Cincinnati title and followed it up with the US Open crown, will face Italian Lucia Bronzetti, who beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist in 2024, defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 7-6, (7-2), 6-1.

The Italian will meet Czech two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova, who outlasted 17-year-old Iva Jovic of the United States 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. 

German qualifier Ella Seidel continued her strong showing with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) win over American McCartney Kessler. She will next face fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva of France, who beat Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-4. AFP, REUTERS