Young tennis star Carlos Alcaraz reached the final of Cincinnati Open 2025 after beating an ailing Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. It’s the seventh consecutive tour-level final for Alcaraz, who has been in sensational form in the ongoing season.
Alcaraz’s 6-4, 6-3 victory against Zverev set up a final showdown with Jannik Sinner, a rematch of the Rome, Roland Garros and Wimbledon title matches this season.
Notably, the sweat-drenched Zverev began to struggle physically in the second set. The German player, who was treated by the physio in his dominant quarter-final win against Ben Shelton, left the court for a medical timeout at 2-1 in the second and was clearly compromised the rest of the match.
“It’s never easy playing against someone that you know is not feeling 100 per cent. It’s even tougher when it comes from Sascha, such a great player, such a great person off the court. We have a really good relationship,” Alcaraz said after levelling the pair’s ATP Head-to-Head series at 6-6.
“We started the match really good, playing good rallies, a good level of tennis. But then all of a sudden he started to feel bad. And then my focus, I was thinking about how he’s feeling, besides focusing on myself and playing good tennis. It was a really difficult situation for me and I just wish him all the best,” he added.
After his semi-final win against Zverev, Alcaraz joined Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in an elite list. At 22 years and three months, Alcaraz became the third-youngest player to reach nine Masters 1000 finals after Rafael Nadal (20) and Novak Djokovic (21).
After playing his 12th ATP Head-to Head match against Zverev – their first meeting this year after four in 2024 – Alcaraz will next face Sinner for the fourth time this year and 14th time overall.
“I’m really looking forward to playing against him once again. We raise our level to the top and we bring a really beautiful tennis to the match. I’m ready to take the challenge. I’m ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match and trying to be better on that side on Monday,” said the Spaniard, who fell in four sets to his rival in their most recent meeting at Wimbledon.
Also Read: Jannik Sinner Joins Carlos Alcaraz, Secures Spot In 2025 ATP Finals
Jannik Sinner Overcomes Terence Atmane For Spot In Cincinnati Open 2025 Final
Defending champion Jannik Sinner ended the dream run of World No. 136 Terence Atmane at the Cincinnati Open semi-final. Celebrating his 24th birthday in style, Sinner delivered a rock-solid display to triumph 7-6(4), 6-2 and reach his eighth ATP Masters 1000 final.
With his 86-minute victory, during which he did not face a break point, the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings recorded his 200th tour-level win on hard courts and extended his win streak on the surface to 26 matches.
“It was a very, very tough challenge. Every time you play against something completely new, it’s difficult, but playing against this guy in the later stages of a tournament is even more difficult. The pressure is higher and you know they deserve to be there… He has beaten incredible players throughout his wins,” said Sinner.
“I knew that I had to be very careful, and my mindset was in a good spot. I felt like I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well in the first set. He has huge, huge potential, and I think we saw that in the tournament,” he added.
Despite his defeat against Sinner, Atmane can reflect on a milestone week in Cincinnati, where he has surged 67 spots to a new career-high No. 69 in the ATP Live Rankings. The 23-year-old is next scheduled to compete in the qualifying event for the US Open, which begins on Monday.