In a personal-best performance, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jordan Thompson in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters, an ATP 1000 competition, to earn his 50th victory of the year.
Alcaraz, who stunned the defending US Open champion last week in Toronto, will face the winner of Frenchman Ugo Humbert and American Tommy Paul in the third round.
The Spaniard hit the 50-win mark in his 12th competition of the year on Tuesday night, improving to 12-0 in his opening-round matches this year. In the semi-finals of the US Open, his 14th competition of the year, he won his 50th match.
The 20-year-old, who increased his record to 50-5 on the year, is aiming to win his sixth championship of 2023 to go along with his victories at Wimbledon, Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Queen’s, and Queen’s.
For Alcaraz to remain at the top of the ATP Rankings for the 34th consecutive week on Monday, he must make the final this week. Any outcome short of a run to the final provides a number of opportunities for Serbian great Novak Djokovic to retake the lead.
While playing doubles with fellow Serb Nikola Cacic, Djokovic, who had not played in the USA in almost two years, lost to the British-Kiwi team of Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 4-6, 2-6.
After losing to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, the Serb played his first competitive match in this one. In addition, Djokovic will play in just one tournament before the US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam, gets underway on August 28 in Flushing Meadows in New York.
The 23-time grand slam champion is scheduled to play Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the opening round of singles competition on Wednesday night.
Since losing in the 2021 US Open final, Djokovic hasn’t played in North America because he hasn’t been permitted to enter the country because of vaccination policies that demand that all visitors from outside the country receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
–IANS
