For the second year in a row Tommy Paul has struck upset gold at the National Bank Open.
The American, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the round of 32 in Montreal last year, achieved the feat again on Friday night in Toronto, earning his first ever win over a reigning World No.1 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the two-time major champion.
Paul becomes the first American man to knock off a reigning World No.1 since John Isner in 2017.
Does Paul, who improved to 2-1 lifetime against the 20-year-old Spaniard, have the recipe for winning against Alcaraz?
“I don’t know if I figured out the recipe but I played a really good match today – I really went after my shots,” he said after snapping Alcaraz's 14-match winning streak.
Paul was brilliant in all corners of the court, using his blazing speed and athleticism to counter Alcaraz’s power, and when he had the opportunity he was quick to strike early in points against the top seed, often pinning him behind the baseline with deep returns that allowed him to pressure Alcaraz’s serve.
Paul won 52 percent of second-serve return points and earned ten break points, converting ten.
“You can’t start any point on your heels against him, he’ll take advantage of it” he said of Alcardaz. “You really have to go after your shots early in the rally and luckly I was feeling really good on the first strike tennis – that was the difference today, I think.”
Down a set for the second time in two nights, Alcaraz used stunning shotmaking to rally in the second. He struck the shot of the match, a jaw-dropping tweener winner, to hold for 3-3 in the second set and parlayed the momentum into a break at love in the next game for a 4-3 lead.
Alcaraz saved three break points in the next game to hold for 5-3 and closed out the set two games later, but the pressure from Paul’s side of the court continued to come.
Paul, swiftly chasing down many of Alcaraz’s drop shots, broke for 3-2 in the final set and held serve the rest of the way to close out his triumph in two hours and 20 minutes.
14th-ranked Paul will face either Jannik Sinner or Gael Monfils on semifinal Saturday in Toronto. The 26-year-old is up to No.12 in the live rankings and could make his Top 10 debut next week if he wins the title.
In January of this year, Paul became the first American to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The American improves to 30-17 on the season, while Alcaraz drops to 49-5.