Islamabad, Aug 11, 2025: Carlos Alcaraz recovered a rough second set to upset Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in his first-round match at the Cincinnati Open. Playing in his first tournament back since losing runner-up at Wimbledon against Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard romped in the first set but lost his footing in the second finding himself being broken twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian.
The second seed was re-grouped in finalizing set in which he minimized the unforced errors and restored his aggressive pace. A thundering seventh ace established match point, which was closed a few moments later when Dzumhur hit a shot offcourt. The success was the 12th consecutive win of Alcaraz in Masters 1000, the previous two victories were in Monte Carlo and Rome.
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“It felt like a rollercoaster—good and bad moments,” Alcaraz admitted after recording 44 unforced errors. “I know I can play better. The conditions here are tricky, the ball travels very fast, so you have to stay mentally strong.”
In other matches, Alexander Zverev brushed aside Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 6-3, and American Ben Shelton moving on after Camilo Ugo Carabelli pulled out. Sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur was shocked by Reilly Opelka 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 with 14 aces, and Australian Adam Walton won his first top-50 win, defeating Daniil Medvedev in 3 sets.
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Coco Gauff knocked off Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-2 in the women draw and Jessica Pegula defeated Kimberly Birrell, and Jasmine Paolini edged Maria Sakkari 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) in the tiebreaks.
Carlos Alcaraz will turn his focus to making his game sharp before the third round, and he will seek to better third place of the previous year in Cincinnati.
