How Did Alcaraz and Sinner Reach the Cincinnati Open Quarterfinals?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Alcaraz dominates with a swift victory over Nardi.
- Sinner showcases resilience in a close match against Mannarino.
- Both players aim for their first Cincinnati title.
- Upcoming matches promise thrilling competition.
- Hard-court winning streaks are at stake.
Cincinnati, Aug 14 (NationPress) Carlos Alcaraz surged into the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals with a dominant 6-1, 6-4 victory over Italian Luca Nardi.
Alcaraz wrapped up the first set in a mere 27 minutes, compensating for a late start to his evening match, caused by a prolonged rain delay earlier in the day.
In the second set, Alcaraz found himself down 2-4 before launching a comeback with four straight games to secure his victory after 80 minutes. The 22-year-old triumphed in a grueling, eight-deuce game at 4-4, where Nardi double-faulted on consecutive points, allowing the second seed to serve for the match, as reported by ATP.
A holder of 21 tour-level titles, Alcaraz aims for his inaugural Cincinnati title. He reached the final in 2023, holding a championship point before his rival Novak Djokovic made a stunning comeback to take the trophy.
The Spaniard, seeded to face World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final for the fourth straight tournament where both are participating, will next challenge ninth seed Andrey Rublev, who defeated Francisco Comesana 6-2, 6-3, avenging a first-round loss at Wimbledon last year.
Earlier, defending champion Jannik Sinner triumphed over French qualifier Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-6(4) in a rain-affected match, moving closer to defending his title and securing his first ATP Masters 1000 title this season.
With his one-hour, 48-minute win, Sinner extended his hard-court winning streak to 24 matches, surpassing Novak Djokovic's 2015 record of 23 wins and climbing to eighth place on the list of the longest hard-court winning streaks of this century. His last loss on this surface was against Alcaraz in the Beijing final last October, according to ATP stats.
Sinner will next face 23rd seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or fellow Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in his fifth quarter-final of the year.
In other matches, third seed Alexander Zverev was leading 14th seed Karen Khachanov 7-5, 3-0 when Khachanov retired after 70 minutes of play.