Alcaraz loses to Norrie in Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals

• Tennis Alcaraz knocks down Cilic and stands in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1,000

The Spanish tennis player

, number four in the world ranking, has succumbed in a

battle against the British

in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000.

Alcaraz, 19,

overcoming a gray start and a first set against but Norrie ended up imposing his experience to win 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7) and 6 -4.

After resurfacing in the second set, Alcaraz made the public vibrate, who supported him until the end, with some spectacular points but ended up condemned for his low effectiveness in the decisive moments, with only 2 break points made out of 13 opportunities.

The Spaniard, who has exploded this year with four titles, including the

, also loses the possibility of making the jump to number two in the ATP ranking that he would have achieved if he had lifted the Cincinnati (Ohio) trophy on Sunday.

Norrie, number 11 in the ATP and champion of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 in 2021, will face Croatian Borna Coric (152nd) in the semifinals, executioner of the Spanish Rafael Nadal in the second round.

The other semifinal in Cincinnati, a tournament before the US Open (August 29 - September 11), will be played by the Russian Daniil Medvedev, world number one, and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (7th).

In the last matchup of the quarters, Alcaraz and Norrie fought

that led to an emotional roller coaster with the Spanish coming back from 4-1 down in the second set and the British from 1-3 in the third.

"I was thinking too much about the finish line," Norrie later admitted.

"He raised the level and I had to take my time or the match could have gotten away from me."

"I was also at a disadvantage in the third, but I held on. I had stronger legs, so I tried to make things difficult for him to finish the points and I managed to turn it around," the Wimbledon semifinalist congratulated himself.

A frustrated comeback

The first set between the Spanish and the British advanced evenly with both

, especially an erratic Alcaraz.

Norrie, more solid, prevailed in the 'tiebreak' while Alcaraz looked for answers going to the box where his coach, the former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, and the Spanish tennis player Pablo Carreño supported him.

Alcaraz

to return serve to southpaw Norrie in a late-night duel on one of the fastest courts on tour.

The Spaniard even had several unusual outbursts of frustration, in one of which he threw the ball out of bounds after missing a point at the net.

In the second set, Norrie was beginning to spot the pass when he was ahead 2-4 when Alcaraz, in his eleventh attempt, managed to break his serve for the first time and completely disrupted the dynamics of the match.

The Spaniard regained the confidence to display his extraordinary repertoire of blows, with his devastating rights and his delicacies at the net.

The second 'tiebreak' sentenced him with

that he celebrated by putting his hand to his ear in search of more applause from an audience that was already on its feet.

In the decisive set, Alcaraz broke Norrie's serve to take a

and peek into the table but the British, a mental rock, immediately returned the break and found another in the ninth game to sentence the clash with his serve after three hours and three minutes of the game.

The defeat is

in the second half of a season in which he has exploded as a world figure.

The Spaniard, the only tennis player with two Masters 1000 titles this year, was eliminated last month in the round of 16 at Wimbledon and later fell in the finals in Hamburg and Umag and was dispatched in his debut at the Masters 1000 in Montreal.

His next appointment will be the United States Open, where last year he emerged from anonymity by eliminating candidate Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round.

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