Young fans thrust oversized souvenir balls toward Alcaraz after his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Hamad Medjedovic on a sweltering afternoon at the Cincinnati Open.
It was a signature win for Alcaraz, who slashed his 12th ace to close his 50th win of the season in style. Alcaraz is the first man to score 50 match wins in four straight seasons since Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic did it back in 2016.
Men to Win 50+ Tour-Level Matches in Four Consecutive Seasons This Century
- Roger Federer 11 (2002-12)
- Novak Djokovic 10 (2007-16)
- Rafael Nadal 7 (2005-11)
- David Ferrer 6 (2010-15)
- Tomas Berdych 5 (2011-15)
- Nikolay Davydenko 5 (2005-09)
- Andy Roddick 4 (2002-05)
- Carlos Alcaraz 4 (2021-25)
It is Alcaraz’s 13th consecutive ATP Masters 1000 win and sends him into a round of 16 clash vs. Italian Luca Nardi.
Lucky loser Nardi led Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik 6-2, 2-1 when the 16th-seeded Czech retired after 42 minutes of play. Alcaraz defeated the 22-year-old Nardi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in their lone prior meeting in the Doha round of 16 earlier this season.
Today’s match was a meeting between 22-year-old former Next Gen ATP Finals champions with shared penchant for powerful strikes and devious drop shots.
Pushed to the distance in his 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Damir Dzumhur in his Cincinnati Open opener, Alcaraz faced a far different challenge in Medjedovic, who can exterminate points with one swing off nearly any strikes.
Alcaraz spent much of the match fending off heavy strikes from the hard-hitting Serbian and sprinting corner to corner on occasion to repel deep drives.
The first set swung on a steamy nine-deuce, 13-minute game. Medjedovic saved three break points, but indulged his penchant for the drop shot and found the net instead to face a fourth break point. The Serbian spit up his third double fault of the game as Alcaraz broke for 4-3 to end a punishing game.
That game seemed to strengthen Alcaraz and drain Medjedovic. Alcaraz breezed through a hold at 15 to back up the break for 5-3.
The reigning Roland Garros champion served out the set at 15. Medjedovic more than doubled Alcaraz’s unforced error output—21 to 10—and paused to take a medical timeout after the opener.
Midway through the second set, Alcaraz was feeling the heat—from the cauldron-like conditions and searing drives from Medjedovic’s racquet. A massive forehand return down the line gave the Serbian break back point then Alcaraz hit his first double fault to give back the break for 3-all.
“New match! Challenge yourself!” Medjedovic’s coach yelled in encouragement. But the 6’2” Serbian was too busy sucking in deep gulps of air while bent over at the waist leaning against the back wall in apparent exhaustion to really absorb that encouraging message.
In the next game, Alcaraz came back from 40-15 down as a weary Medjedovic tapped two drop shot attempts in a row into net and scored his second straight break for 4-3.
This time, the second-seeded Spaniard slammed through a strong hold extending to 5-3.
Alcaraz sealed his 50th win of the year, lashing his 12th ace.
The 22-year-old Spaniard improved to 50-6 on the season as he chases his sixth title of the year.
The winner of the Alcaraz-Nardi match will face either Andrey Rublev or Francisco Comesana in the quarterfinals.
The ninth-seeded Rublev ripped 18 aces and saved five of six break points out-dueling 2024 Canadian Open champion Alexei Popyrin 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 in a stick three-and-a-half hour battle.
Earlier on stadium court, Comesana looked out on his feet, took a length medical timeout, returned to court to fight off a couple of match points defusing a reeling Reilly Opelka 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5.
