Carlos Alcaraz lives on at the Cincinnati Open before he heads to the U.S. Open later this month.
The Spaniard and ATP world No. 2 had a tough match with world No. 11 Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals at the Masters 1000 event Thursday. He won in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 7-5) to advance to the semifinals, where he will go up against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev Saturday.
On Friday, Alcaraz led 5-3 in the deciding set and had an opportunity to serve for the match before Rublev broke serve and eventually evened things up at five games apiece. Then, the Spaniard got a big hold before Rublev had a chance to serve for a tiebreak. It was Alcaraz's turn to break serve this time, though, as Rublev committed a double fault on match point.
This year's French Open champion was incredibly fired up to survive and advance in Cincinnati, take a look:
Look at what it means! 💪 @carlosalcaraz #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/N8LVDpq1O5
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 15, 2025
He posted how pumped he was to make it to Saturday's semifinal quickly after the match, too:
SEMIS! 🙌🏻🔥 pic.twitter.com/XorEBZzQp9
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) August 15, 2025
"I'm really happy with the level that I played," he said after the match on Tennis Channel. "With the way that I moved, I think I hit the ball really well against a really great ball striker like Andrey. It was about the tennis in the third set for the match, I couldn't close the match and then I'm just really happy to stay there mentally strong with some positive thoughts and got the win."
Should Alcaraz get through Zverev, he will either have another rendition of his superb rivalry with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner or a date with up-and-comer Térence Atmane in the final, whose immaculate run at Cincinnati has been one of the top stories across the sport.
For now, it's sheer bliss for Alcaraz after his 15th straight victory at the 1000 level.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Carlos Alcaraz Was So Fired Up After Close Call With Andrey Rublev in Cincinnati.
