World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is out of the Masters tournament in Canada with Tommy Paul. He thus experienced unexpected déjà vu, as he failed with the same opponent in the land of maple leaves a year ago.
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Montage of the Alcaraz – Paul match at the tournament in Toronto | Video: Associated Press
This time, the twelfth-seeded American eliminated the Spanish tennis player and Wimbledon champion after sets 6:3, 4:6, 6:3 in the quarterfinals in Toronto, last year it was in the second round in Montreal.
It also ended Alcaraz’s 14 game winning streak.
Two weeks before defending his title at the US Open, the 20-year-old Spaniard is not in optimal shape.
“I definitely didn’t play good matches here,” admitted Alcaraz after failing to reach the semifinals for only the second time this season.
“Now all I have to do is train to be better. I will learn a lot from this tournament,” he promised.
Six years older, Paul made it this far at the Masters for the first time. “It helps a lot if you beat your opponent once before. This setting is important,” enjoyed the man who is ranked 14th in the rankings.
He will play against Jannik Sinner from Italy for the final in Toronto.
Apart from Alcaraz, second seed Daniil Medvedev is also surprisingly missing from the semi-finals. The Russian tennis player was not enough against Alex de Minaur and lost 6:7, 5:7. The Australian will be challenged by Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich today.
Toronto Men’s Tennis Tournament (hard court, $7,622,925 endowment):
Singles – quarterfinals: Paul (12-USA) – Alcaraz (1-Sp.) 6:3, 4:6, 6:3, Sinner (7-It.) – Monfils (Fr.) 6:4, 4:6 , 6:3.
Montreal Women’s Tennis Tournament (hard court, $2,788,468 endowment):
Singles – quarterfinals: Šwiateková (1-Pol.) – Collinsová (USA) 6:3, 4:6, 6:2, Pegulaová (4-USA) – Gauffová (6-USA) 6:2, 5:7, 7 :5, Samsonova (15-Russia) – Bencicova (12-Switzerland) 6:4, 6:4.
