Tommy Paul broke Carlos Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak when he defeated the No. 1 player in the world on Friday in the National Bank Open quarterfinals.
The American defeated the top position by 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, and advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final with a fresh stroke. The 26-year-old, who upset Alcaraz in Montreal last year, showed all-court coverage and frequently found openings to advance to record his first victory over a World No. 1.
Paul said post-match conference: “I played a really good match today. I really went after my shots. You can’t start any points on your heels against him or he’ll take advantage of that. So you really have to go after your shots early in the rally and I was feeling really good on the first-strike tennis. That was the difference today.”
Paul further added: “It helps knowing that you can beat your opponent. You never want to walk on the court and be like ‘I don’t know if I can beat this guy’. It’s the attitude you’ve got to have no matter who you are playing. I would say it helped a little bit.”
Speaking specifically about this match, Carlos Alcaraz got shock by the fact that he broke his personal winning streak, and that too after historic Wimbledon.
Paul in Toronto, ranking, and results in 2023
Ranked world no.14 (career-high), Tommy achieved a compiled 35-18 record in 2023. Tommy is currently playing in Toronto where he bested the world no.98 Diego Schwartzman 6-3 3-6 6-4, the world no.22 Francisco Cerundolo 7-62 6-72 6-3, the world no.70 Marcos Giron 6-3 6-2 and the world no.1 Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 4-6 6-3.
will play the world no.8 Jannik Sinner in the semifinal on Saturday at 7:30 pm on CENTER COURT. Their current record is 1-1.The American was the finalist in Acapulco (Abierto Mexicano Telcel), in the Aix En Provence Challenger and in Eastbourne (Rothesay International).
Paul will compete next in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open)
. He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 13th of August.Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
Currently the world no.1, Carlos played his last match on the 11th of August when he was overcome by world no.14 Tommy Paul 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the quarter in Toronto (draw).
This season the Spaniard has achieved a composed 49-5 win-loss record. Alcaraz has won 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Alcaraz was the runner-up in Rio de Janeiro.
He is also scheduled to play at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open) after Cincinnati. The main draw will start on the 13th of August.
Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz clashed against each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Paul. The last time they played, Tommy Paul won 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the quarter in Toronto (National Bank Open) on the 11th of August 2023.
In the video below you can watch the highlights.
Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz |
| Embed from Getty Images |