Carlos Alcaraz secured another battling win as he booked his first semi-final berth at the Cincinnati Masters, but the manner of his victories over the last few days may have set a few alarm bells ringing.
After his stunning victory against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last month, Alcaraz cemented his position as the world No 1 and the new man to beat in tennis.
That tag adds extra weight onto his 20-year-old shoulders and he has shown his fallibilities both last week as he lost to America’s Tommy Paul in Toronto and again in his matches in Cincinnati.
We have been used to seeing world No 1’s breeze through the opening few rounds of tournaments in recent years and Novak Djokovic has done just that in his opening matches on his return to American soil.
Yet it has been a much tougher week for his great rival Alcaraz, who has staggered past Jordan Thompson and Tommy Paul in deciding sets in his first two rounds and he was pushed all the way once again by Max Purcell before grinding out at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
Purcell’s serve and volley game rocked Alcaraz onto the back foot, took time away from his ground shots and he looked rattled for a period of the match as the Spaniard lost the first set.
He showed all his battling qualities to bounce back and find a way to win, but he admitted this was no easy task.
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“It was very tough and tricky,” said Alcaraz. “He served really well and played a great game at the net as well.
“I returned very well and that was the key to get the win. It wasn’t easy.
“I’m really happy to have my seventh semi-final in a Masters 1000 and my first in Cincinnati.”
We should not be surprised that a player of Alcaraz’s youthful years is having some struggles at this stage of his career, even though he has set the bat of expectation so high in the last year.
Winning four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and two Grand Slam titles at such a young age has ensured that Alcaraz is a player with a target on his back now and the players he has squared off against in Cincinnati has clearly relished the challenge of trying to knock him off his perch.
Alcaraz is now just one win away from securing the world No 1 ranking heading into the US Open, with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz his opponent in Saturday’s semi-final.
Hurkacz powered past Alexei Popyrin 6-1 7-6 (8) to reach his first Cincinnati semi-final.
The world number 20 did not face a single break point, but did let a 6-1 lead slip in the tie-break before prevailing 10-8.
“He was a tough man to beat in Toronto,” reflected Alcaraz, who won a deciding set tie-break against Hurkacz in Canada.
“The court is a bit quicker here and that probably suits his game with a big serve, so I need to get as much as I can on the court in the return of serve and then try to play the rally.
“It’s the semi-final of a Masters 1000 so of course I will go for it.”
