Alcaraz battles as Shelton, Zverev race into Cincinnati third round
Carlos Alcaraz hammered out a second-set slump to post a “rollercoaster” 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 success over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match Sunday at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open.The Spaniard,
playing his very first tournament given that losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the very first set however entirely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve two times versus the 33-year-old Bosnian.Advertisement Alcaraz restored his intensity and cut down his errors in the third as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was transformed when Dzumhur fired broad.”It was just a rollercoaster, “said the second
seed, who was winning his 12th straight match at the Masters 1000 level after taking the titles in Monte Carlo and Rome.”Great deals of great sensations, tensions, back to the good ones.
I am happy to get the win at the end. I know that I have chances to do much better. “Alcaraz committed 44 unforced mistakes and stated conditions in Cincinnati, where he was
runner-up in 2023, were constantly tricky.Advertisement”The ball flies a lot, goes extremely quickly, “he stated. “You have to be all set to be in a great position for each shot and that is really difficult to do.”3rd seed Alexander Zverev found things more straightforward, winning 6-3, 6-3 against United States wild card Nishesh Basavareddy in the night session.Zverev needed simply 66
minutes to surpass Basavareddy, a 20-year-old ranked 109th in the world.The German put 41 of his 50 very first serves in play and didn’t deal with a break point.
Basavareddy saved one match point with a blistering service return but Zverev secured the win with his
12th ace.Advertisement American Ben Shelton, coming off his very first Masters 1000 title in Toronto, eased through 6-3, 3-1 when Camilo Ugo Carabelli retired with a knee injury.Shelton’s early night was a benefit after a draining Toronto competition which just ended on
Thursday night
.”It’s not easy to play a number of days after winning any title, “Shelton said. “I feel for Camilo and it’s undoubtedly not the manner in which you want to go through. I hope that he has a quick healing.” Asked about the tape on his own ideal thigh, Shelton said he
has”a couple of muscle things”going on.”The legs take a lot of force,”he said.Advertisement Sixth seed
Alex de Minaur of Australia, the Washington champ, lost to American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. But another Australian, Adam Walton, secured a first top-50 win of his profession with a 6-7 (0/7), 6-4, 6-1 upset of former world number one and 2019 Cincy champ Daniil Medvedev of Russia.-Gauff
battles through- In the females’s draw, French Open champ Coco Gauff battled through a difficult very first set to beat China’s Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-2. Gauff, who raised the prize in Cincinnati in 2023 and went on to declare her very first Grand Slam title at the US Open that year, had to grind her method through the very first set.Advertisement But the second seed steadied in the 2nd to run out the winner in 71 minutes.”It was a rough start,”Gauff said.” But it was about just trusting myself and the work we’ve done in practice.
“Third seed Jessica Pegula, runner-up in 2015 to Aryna Sabalenka, defeated Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-3. Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, finalist last season at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, also advanced, beating Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-6 (7/2 ), 7-6(7/5 ). str/bb/dh