Carlos Alcaraz ‘taking a lot of lessons’ from Canadian Open defeat
Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he ‘didn’t play well’ in his Canadian Open quarter-final, as the No.1 was beaten in the tournament by Tommy Paul once again.
Alcaraz was beaten in the second round by Paul when the tournament was held in Montreal last year, and despite going further in Toronto fell to a similar fate when he met the American once again.
The Wimbledon champion reflected on his performance, “I realise that I didn’t play well, these matches. All I can do now is practice to be better. I have some weeks before the US Open.”
He continued, “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.
“I think I did well some things, but probably everything can be better. I always say you can be better in everything even if you’ve played your best matches in your career. But right now, I have to improve a lot of things, getting more confidence in my game.”
Although he was disappointed in his own performance, Alcaraz was very complimentary about his No.14 ranked opponent, “He’s certainly a complete player. 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.”
Thank you Toronto for the support this week! ❤️🇨🇦 I loved playing here! Last night it was not to be! 🥲Congratulations @TommyPaul1 for the win! Time to think about Cincinnati! ✈️
📸 @atptour pic.twitter.com/qexP2wXfiM
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) August 12, 2023
The No.1’s shock exit from the tournament means that there’s a guaranteed new ATP Masters 1000 champion, with Paul, Jannik Sinner, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alex de Minaur remaining.
Alcaraz’s attention now turns to the event in Cincinnati next week, where he will play either John Isner or a qualifier after receiving a bye to the second round, with the possibility of meeting Paul once again in the third round.
Carlos Alcaraz losses in 2023
To show how rare an Alcaraz defeat is, we at Tennishead wanted to look back at his only five losses this year:
Rio de Janeiro Final – Beaten by Cameron Norrie, 7-5 4-6 5-7
Miami Open Semi-final – Beaten by Jannik Sinner, 7-6(4) 4-6 2-6
Italian Open Third Round – Beaten by Fabian Marozsan, 3-6 6(4)-7
Roland Garros Semi-final – Beaten by Novak Djokovic, 3-6 7-5 1-6 1-6
Canadian Open Quarter-final – Beaten by Tommy Paul, 3-6 6-4 3-6
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