Djokovic eases past Monfils, Alcaraz holds off Paul
The Serbian made the most of a loose service game from Monfils and broke to love at 5-3 in the first set to close it out.
CINCINNATI:Novak Djokoviccruised past Gael Monfils and Carlos Alcaraz fended off in-form American Tommy Paul to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals while other top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas were sent packing.
Djokovic, twice a winner in Cincinnati, dominated the baseline rallies in his 6-3, 6-2 win over Monfils and extended his perfect record against the Frenchman to 19-0 – the most lopsided unbeaten ATP head-to-head record in the Open Era.
The Serbian made the most of a loose service game from Monfils and broke to love at 5-3 in the first set to close it out.
After racing to a 5-0 lead in the second he faltered on his first attempt to serve it out, but completed the win two games later in an hour and eight minutes. Djokovic will next face home favorite Taylor Fritz.
World number one Alcaraz had not looked himself in an uneven third round performance on Tuesday but was firing on all cylinders as he harnessed his mighty forehand to chip away at Paul’s defenses in the rain-interrupted battle.
Paul cracked the code to beat the 20-year-old earlier this month in Toronto but a handful more errors from the 14th seed this time around helped Alcaraz get the upper hand in his 7-6(6), 6-7(0), 6-3 victory.
Alcaraz came back from a break down four times in the first two sets but squandered three match points in the second. The Spaniard was serving at 4-3 and up a break in the decider when rain stopped play for over an hour. He broke Paul’s serve again in the final game of the match to book a quarter-final clash with Australian Max Purcell. Alexander Zverev upset third seed Medvedev 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a clash between former champions, breaking the Russian three times and saving six of eight break points. He will next face France’s Adrian Mannarino.
Poland’s unseeded Hubert Hurkacz unleashed 11 aces and 27 winners to cruise past Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in a brisk one hour and five minutes, setting up a meeting with Australian lucky loser Alexei Popyrin.
