"Never want to be on court & be like 'I don't know if I can beat this guy'" – Tommy Paul on defeating Carlos Alcaraz twice in a row at Canadian Open
Tommy Paul beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Canadian Open quarterfinal on Friday, August 11, in Toronto. After the match, Paul said he hadn't found any secret formula to beat Alcaraz, but had merely believed in himself.
Alcaraz committed six double faults, far too many for his standards, which allowed Paul to pull off a second consecutive victory over Alcaraz in Canada. During the post-match on-court interview, Paul touched upon his performance and mentioned that it was necessary to start rallies positively against the 2023 Wimbledon champion.
“I don’t know if I figured out the recipe," Paul said. "I played a really good match today. I went after my shots. You can’t start any points on your heels against him. You have to go after your shots early in the rally.”
After losing the opening set, Alcaraz seemed to find some rhythm in the second. He even sent a tweener down his opponent's court to seal the sixth game of the set.
Sharing his thoughts on the momentum shift, Paul said:
“We don’t want that. [Alcaraz taking control]. I thought things could have changed very easily there. I actually got broken at love the next game. But his next service game, I came out and played a couple of good points I got myself to a couple of break points.
"Even though I lost the game, I felt like it really set the tone moving forward in the match. Even if he won that set, I was going to be there in the third."
The American trusted himself to pull off a victory against Alcaraz, just as he had done last year at the same tournament.
"It helps knowing you can beat your opponent," the World No. 14 said. "You never want to walk on court & be like 'I don’t know if I can beat this guy.' It’s kind of the attitude you’ve got to have no matter who you’re playing."
Paul will next face Italy's Jannik Sinner in the semifinal.
Tommy Paul takes the lead in head-to-head against Carlos Alcaraz
With the latest victory in Toronto, Tommy Paul has edged ahead of Carlos Alcaraz in their head-to-head count. The American now leads the Spaniard 2-1.
The 2022 clash at the Canadian Open was their first-ever meeting on the court. Paul staged a convincing comeback to beat Alcaraz 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3 after more than three hours in the Round-of-32 match.
The duo played each other a second time during the Miami Open in March this year. Paul was not able to challenge his opponent that time, as Alcaraz dominated the Round-of-16 tie in straight sets. The Spaniard made it to the last four in Miami, only to be beaten by Jannik Sinner.