Alcaraz meets his cavalry opponent again
Alcaraz lost both times against Paul in August, both in the Rogers Cup. Last year, he lost to the US opponent 7-6, 6-7, 3-6 in the second round, and this year lost 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the quarterfinals. In three meetings, Alcaraz has only beaten Paul once, with a score of 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of this year's Miami Masters.
Losing to Paul last week caused Alcaraz to break his 14-match winning streak since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of Roland Garros. The number one player in the world has only lost five matches this season. Alcaraz just won the 50th match on the ATP Tour this year, with a score of 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 against Jordan Thompson on August 16.
Paul was in the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year. According to him, the secret to defeating Alcaraz is to attack first and try to serve the ball well to create an advantage. The 26-year-old said that whoever plays against Alcaraz must be in top form to have a chance to win. At important points, Paul also admits that he tries to go out of his comfort zone, not afraid to fight hard against the world's number one opponent.
"Against Alcaraz, if you don't play your best tennis, he'll come at you and maybe make you look like an idiot," Paul said before the match against Alcaraz on August 17. "In Miami, I wasn't bad but I still lost. You have to attack from the very beginning when you see him. I always try to do that and winning the catch game early gave me confidence in the Rogers Cup game last week. ".
Paul also considers Alcaraz to be the best player in the world right now, who has the ability to cover the court with ease. However, Paul also revealed that he read Alcaraz's tactics in part thanks to coach Franco, a Spaniard.
The loss to Tommy Paul 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the quarterfinals of the ATP 1000 Rogers Cup on August 12 made Alcaraz lose the right to self-determination in the race to the number one position in the world after the US Open. The Spaniard is just 600 points ahead of Novak Djokovic, in the ATP rankings updated this week. Alcaraz is going to have to defend 180 points in Cincinnati due to last year's quarterfinals, and 2,000 points at the US Open as the defending champion.
