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Top seed and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat Max Purcell of Australia 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Friday, August 18. The match lasted a little more than two hours, as the 20-year-old Spaniard registered a hard-earned win.
This was the third consecutive match in which the Spaniard dropped a set. He will face Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the semifinals on Saturday. Hurkacz beat Alexei Popyrin of Australia in straight sets in their quarterfinal clash.
On that note, here's a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1 Purcell opted to serve-and-volley often
Purcell relied on his first serve a lot and opted to serve-and-volley frequently. Although he hit a few volley winners in the first set, Alcaraz began to have his measure as the match progressed with his accurate passing shots.
However, it was Purcell who got the decisive break of serve in the seventh game and won the first set to put some pressure on the Spaniard. Alcaraz yet again made an ordinary start to a match and had to rally from that point onwards.
#2 Alcaraz bounced back in style
The Spaniard made the perfect start to the second set, breaking the Australian in the second game and holding serve to go 3-0 up.
Aside from playing a few accurate passes, Alcaraz also covered the width of the baseline to make it difficult for the Australian to hit through him. There were a lot of crosscourt forehand exchanges between the two, but Alcaraz did not apply too much power behind his shots.
The Spaniard continued his dominance in the third set, too, and broke Purcell in the first game before taking a 2-0 lead. The Australian fought hard to level the score but the Spaniard broke once more to clinch victory.
Alcaraz put a lot of pressure on the Australian’s second delivery, as the latter was able to win only 44% of the points on his second serve. In comparison, Alcaraz won 62% of the points on his second serve. He managed to convert three of the nine break-point opportunities that came his way.
The Spaniard’s grit and mental resolve once again came to the fore as he came from behind to secure another win.
