Cincinnati, Aug 13 (IANS) Carlos Alcaraz eased past Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in testing conditions at the Cincinnati Open to rack up his 50th win for the season.

Alcaraz kept his cool in the Ohio heat to notch his 13th consecutive Masters 1000 win and sailed into the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The opening stages of the match was hard fought The momentum then shifted clearly toward the Spaniard, however, with Medjedovic serving at 3-3. The Serbian saved three break points, but the pressure told on the fourth, when he produced a double fault to hand his opponent a breakthrough.

Medjedovic received treatment from the physio for neck pain at the end of the first set and played aggressively in the second set to try and shorten the rallies in the heat. Although he was able to reclaim a break for 3-3 and ultimately outhit Alcaraz by 25 winners to 16 overall, that approach proved too inconsistent to overcome the Spaniard.

The Serbian netted consecutive drop shots to gift Alcaraz another break for 4-3, and this time the Spaniard did not let slip his lead. He completed his 95-minute win, having converted three of seven break points he earned, ATP reports.

Having already lifted titles in Monte-Carlo and Rome in his current Masters 1000 winning streak, Alcaraz will take on Luca Nardi next in Cincinnati as he chases his eighth trophy at that level.

Having both qualified for the ATP Finals, Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz will compete in a thrilling battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 honours over the remaining months of the year. Alcaraz currently holds a 1,500-point lead over Sinner in the ATP Live Race To Turin.

In other action, ninth seed Andrey Rublev pulled a three-hour, 30-minute marathon against 21st seed Alexei Popyrin. Rublev prevailed 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 to level his ATP Head-to-Head series with Popyrin at 2-2.

–IANS

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