Zverev ends Shelton’s 9-match winning streak and reaches the semi-finals in Cincinnati
After Jannik Sinner and Terence Atmane qualified the previous day, Carlos Alcaraz became the third player to reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000.
The Spaniard had dominated Andrey Rublev earlier in the day (6-3, 4-6, 7-5) and awaited the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton for a place in the final.
In the last men's match of the day, the German, ranked number 3 in the world, was the favorite against the American, who has been in great form in recent weeks.
The world number 6 had reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the semi-finals in Washington, and won his first Masters 1000 in Toronto last week.
However, the grueling schedule is taking its toll on Shelton, who was on a nine-match winning streak before this encounter. The 22-year-old was playing for the 10th time since July 30th and hadn't had much time to recover after his victory over Jiri Lehecka the previous day.
Therefore, the third showdown of the 2025 season between the two men (and on a third different surface following the final in Munich on clay and the semi-final in Stuttgart on grass) ended quickly.
After just 1 hour and 17 minutes of play, Zverev secured an easy victory (6-2, 6-2) dominating his opponent for the fourth time in as many meetings.
For a place in the final, Zverev will face Alcaraz for the 12th time on the main circuit.
Currently, the German leads 6-5 in their head-to-head matchups and won their last encounter, which took place in the group stage of the ATP Finals in Turin at the end of last season.
After a rocky start to the season, Zverev has now reached at least the semi-finals in four of his last five tournaments (semi-finals in Halle, Toronto, and Cincinnati at least, as well as the final in Stuttgart), losing in the first round at Wimbledon to Arthur Rinderknech.
