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Carlos Alcaraz Was So Fired Up After Close Call With Andrey Rublev in Cincinnati

Vamos.

Blake Silverman

Carlos Alcaraz made it through Andrey Rublev to get to the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open
Carlos Alcaraz made it through Andrey Rublev to get to the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open / Screengrab via Tennis TV

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:

He posted how pumped he was to make it to Saturday's semifinal quickly after the match, too:

"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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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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