Carlos Alcaraz survives against Andrey Rublev in three set Cincinnati Open epic

Carlos Alcaraz is through to the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open for the second time in his career after taking down Andrey Rublev in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win on Friday evening in Ohio.

Albeit it wasn't without Alcaraz having his own issues as tweets summed up, he is the master at solving disasters of his own making and double faulting on match point was a showcase of that. He hit 15 unforced errors and three double faults in the decider but held firm to prevail.

He now reaches a 12th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and remains on track if results go the way that is hoped to face Jannik Sinner again in a tie that previously was a bit of a rare treat now due to how the seedings work, it is a regular occurrence. Sinner faces Terence Atmane on Saturday and has yet to drop a set, while Alcaraz has been poor at times and exceptional at others.

He has surrendered his serve in each of his four matches and advanced twice after three-set battles. After breaking Rublev in the final set to go 5-3 up. He decided to capitulate again as he opened with a double fault as Rublev went on to level at 5-5. But he managed to find that extra bit he needed to seal the win.

Rublev during the tie kept it tight and in particular the second set asked major questions of the Spaniard as he reduced his unforced error to only four in the second set and took it. But in the final set, he was unable to maintain that form with a medical emergency also in the stands not aiding that. Alcaraz extends his ATP Masters 1000 winning streak to 15 matches after winning in Monte-Carlo and Rome. He did not play for instance in Canada so that doesn't count.

Zverev or Shelton await

He has also tied Carlos Moya for the third-most ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals among Spanish players. He leads Rublev 4-1 in their Head-to-Head including defeating him at Wimbledon last month but in reality this was perhaps his toughest assignment yet as it was less Rublev but himself that he was battling throughout the contest. While he will dream of Sinner well at least fans and the tournament will, it will be a different complexion next up. He faces off against either Ben Shelton or Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz has never won in Cincinnati and has some bad memories here.

In particular the infamous 2023 final where it looked for all the will that he was going to win before throwing it away against Novak Djokovic. But also this was semi the making of Alcaraz who went on to become an all conquering force and alongside Sinner the main star in men's tennis.

Going into the US Open, he will be the one chasing Jannik Sinner for the Year End World No.1 spot with Sinner having to defend last year's title. They could wage their latest version of their rivalry. Albeit against Shelton he faces off against the American who won in Canada last week. In addition Zverev also continues to fly under the radar. After a poor start to the year that saw him not able to capitalise on Jannik Sinner's ban to become World No.1, he struggled for results.

But after going to Toni Nadal's Academy for a week he reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Open and is on the verge of reaching the same point again in Cincinnati. That is the landmark tie of Friday in Cincinnati as we zone in on making up the semi-final line-up and we reach the latter stages. Alcaraz will be one relieved man but will his nine lives continue to him taking the title this week? Time will tell.

Match Statistics Rublev vs. Alcaraz