2023-08-18 02:31:47
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, world number oneadvanced this Thursday to the quarter finals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 after a duel full of interruptions against the American Tommy Paul, his executioner last week in Toronto.
Alcaraz went through difficulties again against one of the rivals who choked him the most on the circuit but, after three hours and nine minutes, he ended up celebrating his revenge 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (0/7 ) and 6-3.
The Spaniard, who wasted three match points in the second set, will meet the Australian in the quarterfinals Max Purcellnumber 70 in the world ranking and great surprise of the tournament since he dispatched the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the second round.
Alcaraz, who is preparing to defend his US Open crown (August 28-September 10), needs to reach at least the Cincinnati final to ensure he reaches New York as the ATP leader.
His competitor for that position is the Serbian Novak Djokovic, back in the United States after two years of absence and with hunger for revenge against Alcaraz for his loss in the Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard, who already had a hard time beating Jordan Thompson in his debut in Cincinnati, had to grit his teeth again against Paul, one of the few players on the circuit with whom he had a negative personal balance.
The American, number 13 on the ATP, dealt him two painful consecutive eliminations at the Canadian Open, the last one last week in the quarterfinals.
This Thursday, Paul put the Spanish prodigy in trouble again by being the first to break serve and leading 2-5 in the opening set.
With a 3-5 advantage, the American came to serve to win the first set but Alcaraz reacted and forced a tiebreak that he won after raising another 3-5 against.
The second sleeve also gave him complications. In the midst of a strong wind that made it difficult to dominate from serve, Paul got the first of six breaks in the second set and saved three match points to force a tiebreak in which, to the astonishment of the public, he did not give up a single spot.
Alcaraz took a breath by breaking at the start of the deciding set before the rain forced the match to stop first for an hour and a half and then, after several points played, again for more than half an hour.
The Spaniard, who took the arrests with a smile, settled the clash around the locker room with a final break and set foot for the fifth time in a quarterfinal of Masters 1000 tournaments this season.
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