American Tommy Paul on Friday ended top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz’s winning streak at 14 matches, beating the 20-year-old Spanish star 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the Canadian Open semi-finals.
Alcaraz had the shot of the match with a between-the-legs winner in the second set, but could not keep up with Paul in the third.
“I played a really good match. I really went after my shots,” Paul said. “You can’t start any points on your heels against him or he’ll take advantage of that. So you really have to go after your shots early in the rally and I was feeling really good on the first-strike tennis. That was the difference today.”
Photo: AP
Alcaraz leads the tour with six tournament wins and 49 match victories against only five losses.
“He’s really tough on every surface,” Alcaraz said. “I mean he’s a mix of everything. It makes him really, really tough.”
The 26-year-old Paul won in Stockholm in 2021 for his lone tour title. He also beat Alcaraz last year in Montreal in the tournament.
“It helps knowing that you can beat your opponent,” Paul said. “You never want to walk on the court and be like: ‘I don’t know if I can beat this guy.’ It’s the attitude you’ve got to have no matter who you are playing.”
Paul faces seventh seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, who won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 over Gael Monfils of France.
In the afternoon, second seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia dropped out with a 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 loss to Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
De Minaur faces Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-finals.
Davidovich Fokina beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2 in the opening quarter-final.
In the women’s singles, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan outlasted Daria Kasatkina of Russia 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (10/8) in a match that ended at 2:54am yesterday.
“I’ve played three sets, tough battles, but like this, honestly, physically it’s really tough,” Rybakina said on court after the match. “It’s so late. I’ve never played this late. Thank you so much. Hopefully, somehow I can recover for tomorrow.”
Rybakina faces Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the semi-finals. Samsonova beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek faces Jessica Pegula of the US in the other semi after Pegula defeated compatriot Coco Gauff 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 and Swiatek eliminated Danielle Collins of the US 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and partner Yang Zhaoxuan of China reached the semi-finals with a 2-6, 6-3, 10-4 win over the US’ Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez of Australia.
They are to play Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara today after the Japanese duo had a walkover win in the quarters.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS