Second seed Carlos Alcaraz prevailed over world No. 72 Hamad Medjedovic with a 6-4, 6-4 win in one hour and 35 minutes, achieving his 50th win of the season to progress into the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday.
Assessing their first encounter on tour, Alcaraz commented: “I know he’s a really powerful player. 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, and tried to defend in a good way. I’m just really happy to get the win.”
The five-time Grand Slam champion took control of the match in the seventh game of the opening set when a double fault - the Serbian’s fifth in the set - earned him a break.
Moreover, Alcaraz was the better player behind his service, winning 75 of the points on his first and second serve, and without dropping a lone service game.
Building from there, the 22-year-old closed out 6-4 in 45 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, marked by the disruption of play due to rain, as well as the high temperatures and humidity levels registered in Cincinnati, which took a physical toll on the players.
By the end of the opener, the former world No. 61 received treatment on his neck from the physio, regrouping into the second set.
However, as the set wore on, Medjedovic, 22, began to show signs of fatigue, firing drop shots that would end up netting.
Maximizing on his chances, the Spaniard found breathing room to break his opponent in the fifth game.
Nonetheless, the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, making his second Masters 1000 appearance in the third round, found a way to break straight back, setting the level at 3-3.
Ultimately, the double faults became the Marseille finalist Achilles’ heel; in the seventh game, Alcaraz produced a double break, pivotal to the match outcome.
The Murcia native, who has claimed five titles this season, moved forward to seal the set 6-4 and the match, improving his game compared to his opening matchup, although he has yet to find his best tennis in the tournament.
Overall, the two-time Roland-Garros champion hit 16 winners against 18 unforced errors compared to his adversary, 25 and 38, respectively.
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil became the first player since 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in 2013-16 to record 50+ victories at tour level for the fourth consecutive season.
Elsewhere, Toronto runner-up Karen Khachanov outlasted 13th seed Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3 in 84 minutes, showcasing world-class tennis on Grandstand.
Meanwhile, ninth seed Andrey Rublev took out Australian Alexei Popyrin in a gruelling three-setter after three hours and 29 minutes.
On a 13-match winning streak at the Masters 1000 level, Alcaraz will next meet lucky loser Luca Nardi, who advanced to the fourth round after 16th seed Jakub Mensik withdrew from their match when leading 6-2, 2-1.