Carlos Alcaraz Takes Revenge on Tommy Paul to reach first quarter finals in Cincinnati 

Carlos Alcaraz takes Toronto revenge on Tommy Paul at the Western & Southern Open, 7-6(6), 6-7(0), 6-3 in a third-round thriller in Cincinnati on Thursday night to reach the quarter finals.

Last week in Toronto, Tommy Paul shocked the world by defeating World No.1 in the quarter finals enroute the title he won in Canada.

“It was a really tough match. We were playing a really close match before the rain came. But I think I did pretty well [dealing with] the wait in the gym, warming up,” said Spaniard, who spent over six hours on court to earn three-set wins against Jordan Thompson and Paul this week.

“I told everyone that I really wanted [to win], since I lost in Toronto. I came here in Cincinnati and I’m really happy with the level. I think I’m getting better and better. I’m really happy to be in the quarter-finals here.”

With his win, Alcaraz levelled his H2H the with American at 2-2. Now 51-5 for the season, his opponent in the last eight will be qualifier Max Purcell, who earlier defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2. Alcaraz is playing for more than just his fifth Masters 1000 crown this week he needs to reach the final in Ohio to ensure he keeps his No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Alcaraz is preparing for another tough match in his first meeting with Purcell: “He’s playing great. He defeated a lot of great players, top players,” the World No. 1 said of the Aussie. “So I have to play my best against him. I don’t know him really well, so I have to watch some videos from his last matches and be ready for the quarter-final. It’s not going to be easy.”