{"id":93122,"date":"2023-08-19T15:40:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T15:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/19\/novak-djokovic-and-carlos-alcaraz-into-semi\/"},"modified":"2023-08-19T15:40:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T15:40:14","slug":"novak-djokovic-and-carlos-alcaraz-into-semi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/19\/novak-djokovic-and-carlos-alcaraz-into-semi\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz into semi"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Djokovic is yet to drop a set at the Cincinnati Open
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Novak Djokovic thrashed Taylor Fritz while Carlos Alcaraz fought back from a set down as the top-ranked pair reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open.<\/p>\n

Djokovic took just 61 minutes to beat American Fritz 6-0 6-4 and will play Alexander Zverev next.<\/p>\n

World number one Alcaraz won 4-6 6-3 6-4 against Max Purcell to set up a semi-final tie with Poland\u2019s Hubert Hurkacz.<\/p>\n

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The pair are on course to meet for a rematch of last month\u2019s\u00a0Wimbledon final, which Alcaraz won.<\/p>\n

Second seed Djokovic is playing in his first tournament on American soil since 2021 after missing last year\u2019s US Open and other tournaments because of his Covid vaccination status.<\/p>\n

He will bid for a 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open, which gets underway on 28 August.<\/p>\n

The Serb dominated the first set against home favourite and ninth seed Fritz and, despite finding himself 4-2 down in the second, rallied to win four games in a row and wrap up the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just managed to get off the blocks really strong, played an almost perfect, flawless first set,\u201d Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I started off really poorly in the second and handed him the break, but from 2-4 down, I played really four solid games in the second. Just overall a great performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Alcaraz was taken to a third set for a third straight match by Australian qualifier Purcell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really tough,\u201d said Alcaraz, who will defend his US Open title later this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI returned well on court and that was the key to getting the win today, to return very well and to focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Alcaraz\u2019s semi-final opponent\u00a0Hurkacz<\/strong>, ranked 20th in the world, beat Australian\u00a0Alexei Popyrin<\/strong>\u00a06-1 7-6 (8-6).<\/p>\n

The Pole was narrowly beaten 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) by Alcaraz in last week\u2019s Canadian Open, before the Spaniard exited the tournament with a quarter-final defeat by American Tommy Paul.<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s\u00a0Zverev<\/strong>, who\u00a0won the Hamburg Open\u00a0last month, will face Djokovic in Saturday\u2019s other semi-final after the 16th seed cruised to a 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman\u00a0Adrian Mannarino.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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