The only Spaniard still playing at the Masters 1,000 in Cincinnati Carlos Alcaraz was not pressured and advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament with 7-6(4), 6-1 win over Croatia’s Marin Cilic, in a week that he wants to be crowned with the third 1000 of his career. World No. 4 Alcaraz is the youngest quarterfinalist in Cincinnati since Brit Andy Murray (2006) and will face England’s Cameron Norrie, the young Ben Shelton’s executioner, in the next round. Murcian continues the roller in the cement of Lindner Family Tennis Center, which he opened with an authoritative 6-3 and 6-2 at 65 minutes against American Mackenzie McDonald on Tuesday.

With a center court and 23-degree heat, Alcaraz took the victory in one hour and 39 minutes to confirm their victory over Cilic earlier this year in Miami. In this case it was the second round and Murcian would have finished the tournament as champions. Since then, Alcaraz has conquered the second 1000 Masters of his career in Madrid, gaining positions until reaching number 4 in the world rankings. However, the pressure increased and fell in the first round last week in the growth process. Montreal vs American Tommy Paul. The one defeat he analyzed in this tournament and left behind with two outstanding performances starts in Cincinnati.

Against Cilic, who were semi-finalists at Roland Garros and Queen’s this year, Alcaraz managed to break the serve in the first game and held it to 5-4 when he made three double mistakes that made it difficult to waste his serve 40-15. . He needed the tiebreaker to gain an advantage. He did so by regaining strength and depth with his hits to win 7-4.

Protecting his serve at the opening of the second set and then succeeding to take a break from love, Murcian gained momentum. He canceled his two break balls 2-0 in the light and paved the way for victory with a new ‘break’ in the fifth game for the final 6-1. He finished the match by reducing his serve to zero and received hearty applause from the fans in the center. The Masters smashed his 1,000 record to 17-3 this year and is the only person to have more than one win this season.

In the quarter finals, Alcaraz comes out with a 3-0 record in a fight against Cameron Norriedefeated young American Ben Shelton (229) 6-0, 6-2, leaving no choice. Alcaraz beat him at Indian Wells and Madrid this year and also at the US Open in 2021. As on Thursday, the game will close the night program, which will start at 20:30 local time on the center court this Friday.

Alcaraz: “I’m very happy to keep the level”

Alcaraz this Thursday was “very satisfied with the level” and assured of the “concentration” it has maintained “throughout the game”. “I knew it was going to be a very complex game, I knew Marin was a very, very aggressive player, he always had to be focused, he always had to be there,” Alcaraz said at the end of the game. Center of the match Cincinnati won 7-6(4) 6-1. “The truth is I’m very happy with the level and concentration I maintained throughout the game and of course I will try to continue at that level in the quarterfinals,” Murcian said. Now is the time to recover and enjoy the victory,” he said.

World No. 4 Alcaraz said he wasn’t worried about three double mistakes in the first set and his confidence before the duel with Norrie was “very high”.