Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic win their Cincinnati Open semi-finals to set up blockbuster final

Carlos Alcaraz will meet Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday after both favourites won their semi-finals, not without difficulty.

First through to the final was top seed Alcaraz. After 40 minutes on the court though, it seemed far more likely that Hubert Hurkacz would be the one to advance.

The unseeded Pole broke Alcaraz's serve twice in a dominant opening set which he won 6-2.

The Spaniard won just five points in the opening four games as Hurkacz diligently pushed forward.

The second set was far tighter with Alcaraz almost getting an early break before Hurkacz converted his serve.

Trailing 5-4 in the second, Alcaraz was serving to stay in the match and fell behind 30-40. Hurkacz failed to convert the match point and from there the momentum swung in the Spaniard's favour.

Seemingly invigorated by his brush with defeat, Alcaraz found another gear and produced his best tennis of the match. He forced a tiebreaker, which he won to take the set 7-6(7-4).

The third set was something just short of a waltz for the world No. 1 who swept into the final in just 36 minutes.

The 2-6 7-6(6) 6-3 win was vintage Alcaraz in that it showed both his superhuman ability and all too human foibles.

After the match, he denied feeling fatigued.

He said: "People think that I am going to be tired in the final, but I feel good. It doesn't matter if I play a third set, long matches, I'm recovering really, really well with my physio, with my team. I feel like I'm going to play the first match of the tournament. I feel great."

The top seed continued: "It was a mental semi-final, I had to stay there. I had a lot of break points, it was really tough. Obviously saving a match point is never easy but with my coach, we were talking about staying positive all the time and to stay there. We knew I was going to have my chances and I tried to take it. Every match against Hubi is really, really tough but I'm really, really happy that I was able to win."

Alcaraz was seeing the positives of another gruelling battle.

He explained: "It's been a really tough tournament, all matches [have gone] three sets. But I'm really happy to win these kind of matches and stay strong mentally, these matches are really good for me. I grow up a lot thanks to these matches."

The victory over Hurkacz makes Alcaraz the youngest Cincinnati finalist since Pete Sampras in 1991.

The evening session saw Djokovic face Alexander Zverev, with the Serb winning 7-6(5) 7-5.

The world No. 2 had three set points in the first set, but failed to convert any of them as Zverev battled doggedly to secure a tiebreaker.

Once again, Djokovic had three set points but finally converted on the last to take the set 7-6(5) in 73 minutes.

Zverev gave up the first break of the match in the first game of the second set, handing a crucial advantage to Djokovic. From there the two went hold-for-hold until Zverev broke back to make it 5-5. Unfortunately for the German, Djokovic broke back immediately for 6-5 before serving out the match.

The win over Zverev was Djokovic's 1068th, taking him level with Rafael Nadal for third-most all-time. Only Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors, 1251 and 1274 respectively, remain ahead.

After his victory, Djokovic was looking ahead to Sunday's final.

He said: "It's amazing for the sport to have the number one and number two players facing each other in the final of a big event. This is what I guess everybody wanted and expected at the beginning of the tournament so here we are."

Djokovic then gave his assessment of the battle with Zverev: "In very few of [Sascha's] service games where I had chances, I think I played well, particularly five-all [after] he broke my serve to stay in the match. I managed to bounce back, played a great game to break him again and seal the deal in the 12th game of the second set. I'm pleased. I think there's a few things I could've done better, but overall it's a straight-sets win against a great player in form, so I'm really happy."

Sunday's final will provide a rematch of July's epic Wimbledon final, eventually won in five sets by Alcaraz over the near-indefatigable Djokovic.

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