Carlos Alcaraz through to Cincinnati Masters quarters in straight sets

The world No. 2 downed 98th-ranked Nardi, a 22-year-old Italian who was competing as a lucky loser, 6-1, 6-4 in the last 16 of the Masters 1000 tournament.

Alcaraz broke Nardi twice to win the opening set in dominant fashion before reeling off four straight games from 2-4 down in the second set to seal victory.

The five-time Grand Slam champion landed 65% of his first serves, won 83% of first serve points and 56% of second serve points. He registered ten winners and ten unforced errors.

Alcaraz, who defeated Damir Dzumhur and Hamad Medjedovic in his first two matches in Cincinnati, assessed that his display against Nardi was his best of the event so far.

"I think this match was the best so far for me in this tournament," he said in his on-court interview.

"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'm just really happy with the way I felt the ball today and the way that I moved."

The Spaniard was also asked about finding the balance between getting ready to compete and taking time for himself off court.

"Well, I just try to take care of both things. It depends, without balance, everything is a mess," Alcaraz explained.

"I think both things are really important to be fresh mentally and to come back to court with the feeling that you really want to have battles, to practice and then to get ready for the tournaments. I think a balance of both is important."

Alcaraz's win against Nardi saw him progress to his third quarter-final in Cincinnati after 2022 and 2023. His best previous result was his runner-up finish in 2023.

The 22-year-old has 27 wins in his last 28 matches and he is on a 14-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 level - with this run including his titles in Rome and Monte Carlo during the clay season.

Since the inception of Masters tournaments in 1990, Alcaraz is only the third player to win 14 successive matches at this category of event before turning 23 after Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal.

The Spanish star will face world No 11 Andrey Rublev in the last eight in Cincinnati.

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