MADRID, 18 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz defeated (7-6(6), 6-7(0), 6-3) the American Tommy Paul in an exciting third round of the Cincinnati tournament, the seventh Masters 1,000 of the season, with a lot of wind and two rain stoppages until revenge for the defeat seven days ago in Toronto.
The world number one had to sweat his way to the quarterfinals of the Ohio (United States) event, where he will face Australian Max Purcell, who beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka (6-4, 6-2). Alcaraz came back from a first set marked by the wind and took advantage in the ‘tie-break’, but in the second he forgave three match points with the ghost of Paul becoming even bigger.
The executioner of the Spanish two years in a row in the Canadian Masters 1,000 forced the third set, where the Spanish knew how to be patient and find his blows after an irregular match. The Wimbledon champion reacted to the dismal ‘tie-break’ of the second set, affected by those wasted match points, and started the third breaking. A gold rent when the rain appeared.
The game was suspended with the Spaniard on his way to victory and they returned to the court twice, in an already comic image of the two in the locker room. Alcaraz kept control to avoid more spins and equal his best result in Cincy, with a vital victory to strengthen his confidence and continue adding towards the US Open.
Paul’s stumbling block, a game against the elements, a nervous initial game with errors and five hours of play did not prevent Alcaraz’s 51st victory in 2023. The Spaniard, minimum in the quarterfinals in 11 of the 12 tournaments played this season, maintains also the defense of the number one against the Serbian Novak Djokovic.