TORONTO: Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open preparations suffered a setback on Friday as the world number one fell to American Tommy Paul 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open.

For the third consecutive match, the Spaniard got off to a sluggish start on the hard courts in Toronto, falling behind early and double faulting to hand Paul the first set.

Alcaraz upped his game in the second, hitting a sensational tweener for a winner to level at 3-3 and breaking at love for a 4-3 lead the next game en route to leveling the contest.

But Paul took control in the decider, smoking a backhand at the charging Alcaraz that he could not put back in play for a break and pouncing on a poorly executed drop shot from Alcaraz on match point to dismiss the top seed.

“I realize I didn’t play well in all of these matches,” Alcaraz said. “All I can do now is practice to be better. I have some weeks before the US Open.”

The 26-year-old Paul will rise to a career-high ranking of at least 12 on Monday and will face either Gael Monfils or Jannik Sinner in the semis.

Earlier, Alex de Minaur pulled off a gritty 7-6(7), 7-5 upset of second seed Daniil Medvedev at the Canadian Open on Friday to reach his first semi-final at a Masters 1000 event where he will face Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The speedy Australian fell 5-2 behind in the opener and had to fend off three set points in the tiebreak before clinching the first set against the 2021 champion in Toronto.

The 24-year-old De Minaur had to rally from a break down twice in the second set before showing his resilience again thanks to his brilliant return game, sealing victory on the Russian’s seventh double fault.

“I’m probably most proud of my mental state,” de Minaur told reporters.

“Throughout the whole match, I thought I was very level-headed and at no point in that match did I feel frazzled at all,” he said.

Up next is a meeting with red-hot Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who swept aside American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2 earlier on Friday.

Davidovich Fokina holds a 2-1 lead over De Minaur in their head-to-head meetings.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2023