Carlos Alcaraz's run at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 will begin directly in the second round against the winner of the match between Mattia Bellucci and Damir Dzumhur. The latter is going through the last part of his professional career, but he had put the young Spanish ace in serious difficulty at Roland Garros a few months ago. The Bosnian veteran has a very particular tennis and had almost forced the world number 2 in the fifth set in Paris, before the star from Murcia raised his level and avoided further trouble.
It is likely that Carlitos will need a few matches before playing his best tennis again, considering that he has not played on hard courts since the Miami Open (in which he was eliminated by David Goffin in the second round) and took a break of about a month after the Wimbledon Championships.
Carlitosis almost ready
The former world No.1 reached the final in Ohio as his best result two years ago, but last year he was eliminated in the second round due to a disastrous performance against French veteran Gael Monfils. According to the latest rumors, the surface should be slower than in the last edition and this should help Alcaraz's game which had complained a lot a year ago.
If he wants to return to the top of the ATP rankings by dethroning his top rival Jannik Sinner, the five-time Grand Slam champion needs to achieve very prestigious results both in this Masters 1000 and at the US Open at the end of the summer.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that the No.2 seed will make his debut in Cincinnati on Sunday, August 10. In the event of progressing to the next round, Carlos will play again on Tuesday, August 12 and then on Thursday, August 14.
The Spanish champion has had practice sessions with former world No.1Daniil Medvedev and Norwegian star Casper Ruud these days and seemed calm and smiling. There is no his main coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in Ohio (he will stay in Alcaraz's box at the US Open), but only Samuel Lopez.
