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Key Points

Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Luca Nardi in straight sets, calling it his best performance yet. Jannik Sinner battled past Adrian Mannarino despite a lengthy rain delay. Sinner's win extends his hard-court streak to 24 matches, surpassing Djokovic's 2015 record. Both players look strong heading into the quarterfinals.

Key Points: Alcaraz and Sinner Advance to Cincinnati Open Quarterfinals

  • Alcaraz dominates Luca Nardi with a 6-1, 6-4 win
  • Sinner overcomes Mannarino in rain-delayed match
  • Alcaraz praises his improving form and movement
  • Sinner extends hard-court streak to 24 wins
3 min read

Cincinnati Open: Alcaraz, Sinner march to quarterfinals

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominate their matches to reach the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, extending their impressive hard-court streaks.

"I think this match was the best so far for me in this tournament. – Carlos Alcaraz"

Cincinnati, August 14

Rivals Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner secured wins in their respective round of 16 matches at the Cincinnati Open, making it to the final eight of the tournament.

Alcaraz made it to the quarters on Wednesday night, securing a 6-1, 6-4 win over Italy's Luca Nardi.

The world number two was dominant from word go, winning 13 of first 14 points of the match and took only 27 minutes to win the first set. But in the second set, Alcaraz found himself trailing 2-4, before tallying four successive games and making it to the final eight with the match lasting 80 minutes.

Speaking about his match as quoted by ATP's official website, Alcaraz said, "I think this match was the best so far for me in this tournament. At the beginning of the tournament, I just really wanted to get better every day, after every practice and every match. I think I'm doing it, which I'm really proud about. I am just really happy with the way I felt the ball today and the way that I moved."

So far in this tour on the other hand, Sinner has won all of his six sets, gaining another climb towards regaining his title, overcoming French qualifier Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-6(4) in a match which was disrupted by rain.

Sinner was not at his most free-flowing, but still managed to grind out a win despite a two-hour, 45 minute rain delay, which started during the second set start.

Speaking about his match, Sinner said, "He is a very tough opponent. Very different from other opponents, not only because he is a lefty but how he hits the ball. It is very low. I just tried to serve well and tried to see what I could do in the return games."

"He was serving very well, especially on the Ad side, on the wide one was very precise. I changed the position, trying to make him feel uncomfortable. I struggled a bit to close it out, but this can happen in this sport, and I am very happy to be in the next round," he added.

After this win in one hour and 48 minutes, Sinner's win streak on hard court has extended to 24 matches, surpassing that of Serbian icon Novak Djokovic (23 wins in 2015) as he climbed to eighth place on the list of the longest hard-court winning streaks of this century. His last loss on the surface dates back to October, against Alcaraz in the Beijing final.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

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Shreya B
Sinner's consistency is amazing! 24 straight wins on hard court is no joke. But I feel the article focuses too much on stats - would love more analysis of their playing styles. Both players are such a joy to watch though!
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Aman W
These young players are making tennis so exciting! Remember when we only had Federer-Nadal-Djokovic? Now Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry is the new big thing. Hope they face each other in the finals - that would be paisa vasool match for sure!
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Priyanka N
Watching these matches at 3 AM IST is tough but worth it! Alcaraz's footwork reminds me of Federer in his prime. Indian tennis federation should take notes - we need to develop young talent like this instead of just focusing on cricket all the time.
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Karan T
Sinner breaking Djokovic's record is impressive, but let's see if he can maintain this form in Grand Slams. The real test will be US Open next month. Meanwhile, where are our Indian players? Only Nagal is making some waves but not at this level yet.
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Nisha Z
The way Alcaraz turned around the second set was brilliant! Shows his mental strength. Tennis needs more young champions like him to keep the sport alive. In India, we need to promote tennis in schools more - too much focus only on cricket.

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