Carlos Alcaraz pushed again by Damir Dzumhur, advances in Cincinnati

Carlos Alcaraz's first match since Wimbledon cast a familiar figure.

Facing Bosnian Damir Dzumhur for the second time this year at the Cincinnati Open, Alcaraz was in control—until he wasn't.

But just like he did in the spring at Roland Garros, Alcaraz regrouped to eventually take a scratchy 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory: his 12th straight at a Masters 1000 event this year.

Stream a replay of Alcaraz's second-round Cincinnati victory on the Tennis Channel App!

"It was just a roller-coaster," Alcaraz confessed afterwards. "Lots of good feelings, bad feelings, back to the good ones."

The 2023 runner-up in Cincinnati confessed in his pre-tournament press conference that it took "hours, not days" to recover from any lingering disappointment after losing to rival Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final—his first lost in six trips to championship Sunday at a major. And thanks to a listless first-set performance from Dzumhur, Alcaraz was quick to recover a winning feeling on the scoreboard.

The first frame between the two took less than a half hour, as the world No. 56 hit just one winner and made 13 unforced errors in seven games.

But Alcaraz turned in his own down performance in the second set, as the Bosnian changed his tactics. At Roland Garros, he led Dzumhur by two-sets-to-love before losing the third set late with a flurry of errors, and 15 mistakes from the Spaniard's racquet pulled the 33-year-old even.

And also just like in Paris, Alcaraz labored over the eventual finish line. There, he came from a break down in the fourth set to seal victory, and though he led throughout in the final frame on Sunday, things were never routine.

He won three straight games in the middle of the set to open up a 4-1 advantage. But he failed to turn a 15-30 opportunity into another break in the sixth game, and lost serve from 30-0 ahead at 4-2. From there, though, Alcaraz won eight of the match's last 12 points.

"All I can say is I am happy to get the win at the end and just have another chance to be better," Alcaraz added.