Carlos Alcaraz moved into the Cincinnati Open fourth round on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Serbian Hamad Medjedovic. The win marked a step forward for the second seed as he worked to regain momentum following a brief summer break.
The result followed a challenging opening match against Damir Dzumhur on Sunday, in which Alcaraz needed three sets to prevail. That contest was his first since losing the Wimbledon final to Jannik Sinner.
Rather than immediately beginning the North American hard court season, Alcaraz took a week off to rest in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, followed by two weeks of training at home in El Palmar, Murcia. “When I’m off, I’m off,” he said. “I don’t step in the gym at all. A lot of times if we go for a trip, sometimes my friends go to the gym. The first week that I had off I just told them: ‘I’m gonna join you for a little run.’ But then I woke up and I said: ‘Go, and I’m going to keep sleeping.’”
Medjedovic, winner of the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals two years after Alcaraz’s own title there, presented a significant challenge with his strong serve and powerful forehand. However, his movement and stamina fell short at this level. Apart from a brief lapse in the second set when he dropped serve, Alcaraz maintained control, frequently exploiting Medjedovic’s limited mobility.
“I know he’s a really powerful player,” Alcaraz said after earning his 50th win of the year, giving him four straight seasons with at least 50 victories. The last player to achieve that was Novak Djokovic between 2013 and 2016. “His shots are incredibly hard to return. He has a big serve also. I know he doesn’t like to run too much from side to side, so my plan was to make him run as much as I could. It was difficult because his ball flies and it comes really fast, but I’m just glad that I did it most of the time, tried to defend in a good way. I’m just really happy to get the win.”
Alcaraz will next face Luca Nardi, who advanced after 16th seed Jakub Mensik retired while trailing 6-2, 2-1 due to heat. In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff progressed to the fourth round by walkover after 32nd seed Dayana Yastremska withdrew because of illness.
