Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the seventh consecutive final on the professional tennis tour, after winning 6:4, 6:3 against Alexander Zverev in a match of the men's tournament in Cincinnati. The competition has a rank of "Masters 1000" and a prize fund of 9.193 million US dollars, BTA reported.
In the battle for the title, the Spaniard will meet Yannick Sinner, with whom he played in the finals in Rome, "Roland Garros" and "Wimbledon" this year.
Alcaraz and Zverev played a strong first part, in which the Spaniard took the upper hand late. He reached a breakthrough in the seventh game and defended it to complete the part of the second set ball. The second set started with a break exchange and in the third game the German suffered an injury that temporarily stopped the match with a timeout. He lost fitness and Alcaraz dominated the rest of the match, winning five of the next six games.
"It's not nice to play against someone you know is not 100% fit. It was even harder for Sasha. He is a very strong tennis player and a great person off the court. We have an excellent relationship with him," Alcaraz said after the match.
This will be the ninth final at the "Masters 1000" level for Alcaraz in his career and the first on hard courts since his triumph in Indian Wells last year. He has 16 consecutive victories at this level and a balance of 38-2 since the beginning of April. At 22, the Spaniard is the third-youngest player in Masters 1000 final history behind Rafael Nadal (20) and Novak Djokovic (21).
No. 1 seed and defending champion Yannick Sinner celebrated his 24th birthday with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Terrance Atmane. The Italian won 91% of his first serve and did not allow the Frenchman to break in the 86-minute match.