Cincinnati, Alexander Zverev catches up with Carlos Alcaraz
Alexander Zverev will be Carlos Alcaraz’s opponent in the second semifinal of the Cincinnati Masters 1000. The German defeated Ben Shelton of the United States with a double 6-2, in just over an hour and a quarter of play. The first semifinal, scheduled as early as Saturday evening in Italy, will see Jannik Sinner oppose the surprise of the tournament, Frenchman Terence Atmane.
That it’s a difficult night for the last American left on the scoreboard is clear right from the first bars: Sascha, in fact, immediately goes ahead by two breaks after just five games and Shelton has trouble keeping up with the current world No. 3, leaving him with the first set in 40 minutes.
Not much different was the trend in the second fraction: Zverev again went ahead by two breaks at 4-1 and, in fact, did not have to look back until the end of the match. It will therefore be the German who will face Carlos Alcaraz, who in his own quarterfinal got the better of a tenacious Andrey Rublev, beaten 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have met eleven times on the major circuit, with the German ahead 6-5. The one in Cincinnati will be the second time the two will face each other in a semifinal: the’only previous at this level of a tournament was in Vienna 2021, when Sascha won 6-3, 6-3. By contrast, the last head-to-head was in the round robin of the 2024 ATP Finals, with Zverev winning 7-6(5), 6-4. Alcaraz’s last win against the German was in the final at Roland Garros 2024: 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 the score.
