Before his round of 16 at the Masters 1000 in Miami, Tommy Paul could boast of a tiny psychological ascendancy: it was he who had won the only confrontation which had pitted him against Carlos Alcaraz. It was last summer, in Montreal, and Brad Stine’s protege won (6-7 [4]7-6 [7], 6-3). On Tuesday, the Spaniard set the record straight (Floridian) by dominating the American (6-4, 6-4) in 1:36. The world number 1 thus signs his 9th success in a row.
Marked by some exceptional winning shots, notably signed by the Spaniard, master of amortization, the game was a new demonstration of the ruthless pressure that Alcaraz inflicts on its opponents. He systematically seeks to deprive them of time and oxygen. Yet credited with a very good match, Paul looked in vain for a solution to stem the onslaught.
He will face Fritz in the next round
He also tried to stick to the score in all circumstances. The American thus obtained a break point at 5-4 in the first set (discarded from a service winner). He then erased a match point at 3-5 in the second set. But Alcaraz never doubted his strength. And concludes the game with a magnificent long line backhand. Implacable.
