Medvedev and Tsitsipas set up showpiece SF, Alcaraz crashes out in Cincinnati

World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev defeated America’s best Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.
Fritz was the better player for much of the first set, and after the Russian was forced to produce some big serves to get out of pressure, his clutch play and elite defence in the tiebreak and in the beginning of the second set were enough to take him through to the final four.

Honestly a lot of positives, played very solid, had my chances, didn’t take them 🤷🏻‍♂️ sometimes that’s how it goes. Too good from Daniil today but playing good going into @usopen https://t.co/gBfVvwqYmS
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 19, 2022
Medvedev takes on third seed and old rival Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal. The Greek survived a scare against the big-serving John Isner on Friday. After having to rely on his serve to take the first set into a tiebreak, Tsitsipas was handed a bit of fortune as rain interrupted the breaker, following which he came out zoned in to take the set.
Isner picked up a late break at the end of the second to take the match into a decider, but Tsitsipas showed his ability to absorb pressure taking advantage of his one and only break point in the third to win the match 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3.
Medvedev and Tsitsipas will be meeting for a 10th time on tour having notched up a fiery, at times personal, rivalry ever since famously coming together in Miami back in 2018. Medvedev leads the head-to-head 7-2, but the Greek has won 2 of their last 4.

Incoming: STEFANIIL Part X
It’ll be a 10th meeting between @DaniilMedwed & @StefTsitsipas in the #CincyTennis semi-finals! pic.twitter.com/zZVUcK7cMF
— Tennis TV (@TennV) August 19, 2022
Elsewhere, fourth seed Carlos Alcaraz bowed out of the tournament to Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinal. The promising Spaniard’s year on tour may be going through a trough at the moment, but there is no doubt that his ability to fight (he has won at least a set in every single match he has played this year) and highlight-reel-worthy moments have rightly made him one of the biggest names on tour.

A 🔥 L 🔥 C 🔥 A 🔥 R 🔥 A 🔥 Z@carlosalcaraz #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/P8h9uiLyCk
— Tennis TV (@TennV) August 20, 2022
The duo’s match had its ups and downs. After an impressive opening set, Norrie found himself a break up in the second, only for Alcaraz to rebound and take the match into a decider. The Spaniard led 3-1 in the third, before the Wimbledon semifinal was able to take it into another gear to pick up the biggest win of his career 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-3.
Norrie will take on Croatia’s Borna Coric, a former Masters 1000 final and World No. 12, whose career progress was derailed injury. Coric has been impressive this week though, taking down Rafael Nadal in three sets in the second round, and storming past Felix-Auger Aliassime in the quarterfinal.