Carlos Alcaraz, world number one, had a poor start and held on late to defeat qualifier Max Purcell 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and advance to the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open semi-finals on Friday.
The Spanish top seed was taken off guard by the 70th-ranked Australian, dropping the first set in 44 minutes. Alcaraz maintained his composure to force a third set, battling through a series of service breaks to take the lead at 5-4 and serving out the win.
“I didn’t know him so much before the match,” Alcaraz said of Purcell. “He impressed me a lot. It was really tough for me. I’m really happy to get through.”
Alcaraz advances to the semi-finals to face Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who needed seven match points to defeat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-1, 7-6 (10/8).
Last week in Toronto, Alcaraz needed two tiebreaks to defeat Hurkacz.
“When we played in Toronto, we had a great match,” Alcaraz said. “Here in Cincinnati, the court’s a little faster than Toronto. So it probably suits better to his game. We need to be at the best level to beat him.”
Novak Djokovic defeated ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-0, 6-4 in the nightcap on center court. On Saturday, Djokovic will take on 2021 tournament winner Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.