Ahead of the Cincinnati Masters, when his ATP No. 1 ranking is in jeopardy, Carlos Alcaraz has little time to reflect on his shocking loss to Tommy Paul in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals on Friday night.
For the first time since 2021, Novak Djokovic is playing on American soil, and with no points to defend at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the Serbian has the chance to recapture the title he has held for 389 weeks of his professional career.
Furthermore, Alcaraz’s opponent at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre is not an easy one. He is expected to face Paul in the third round for the second time in two weeks. Paul, an American tennis player, defeated the World No. 1 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Canadian Open quarterfinals, snapping Carlos Alcaraz’s 14-match winning run.
“I realise that I didn’t play well, in these matches,” the 20-year-old said of a sketchy first tournament back after his Wimbledon triumph.
“So all I can do now is practise to be better. I have some weeks before the US Open. But now I have to be focussed on Cincinnati. It’s a Masters 1000. It’s a big tournament as well. Obviously, I take a lot of lessons from this tournament, coming to the next ones… I think I did some things well in this tournament, but probably everything can be better,” he added.
After slipping to 1-2 in his ATP head-to-head against Paul, who also beat him in Canada this time last year, the reigning US Open champion had high praise for the American, who has moved to a career-high No.12 in the Live ATP Rankings.
“He (Paul) is certainly a complete player. The matches that we have played have been really tough ones, last year in Miami and this one,” Alcaraz was quoted as saying by ATP Tour.
“He’s a really solid player. Has great talent, great shots. He’s really, really fast as well. So, he’s one of the best players in the world right now. There’s no doubt about it. He’s really tough on every surface. I mean, he’s a mix of everything. It makes him really, really tough,” he added.
Despite Friday’s defeat, Alcaraz still leads the ATP Tour with 49 match wins and six titles in the season. He also has a 940-point lead over Djokovic in the ATP Live Race To Turin. He is the only player to have qualified for this year’s ATP Finals, where he will make his debut after missing last year through injury.
-IANS
