Tommy Paul vs Carlos Alcaraz IV in Cincinnati round of 16 is the main event showdown.
Paul won the last match in Toronto 63 46 63 and now leads the head to head vs the ATP world no. 1, 2-1.
Here is what both combatants are saying on the eve of their big Thursday clash of tennis titans at the Western & Southern Open…
Tommy: “It helps a little bit (that I beat Carlos last week), but at the same time, it probably doesn’t hurt him. He probably feels less pressure this week to play me than he did last week. So I think it’s going to be a very, very tricky and tough match. But I’m really looking forward to this.”
“You can’t do the same exact thing in any given match. I didn’t do the same thing for the whole match last time I played him and I’m not going to do the same thing tomorrow that I did last week. And same for him. He’s not going to do the same exact thing. He’s going to probably look to change things up more than I am. But at the same time, with me and him I really do feel like it’s about who starts the point on offence more often.”
“He’s obviously an unbelievable player. But when I play him, it’s just like there’s more energy around the match and it’s more exciting and I’m more excited to play those matches. So I have a lot of fun playing those matches.”
Carlos: “He’s certainly a complete player. The matches that we have played has been really tough ones, you know, last year in Miami and this one. He’s a really solid player. Has great talent, great shots. You know, he’s really, really fast as well. So he’s one of the best players in the world right now. There’s no doubt about it. So he’s really tough on every surface. I mean, he’s a mix of everything. It makes him really, really tough.”
Tale of the Tape
Carlos Tommy
6-0 6-1
163 180
49-5 30-18
20 26
ATP No. 1 No. 13
Carlos Alcaraz · Cincy Open · Tommy Paul · Western & SouthernOpen
Scoop Malinowski · August 17, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Carlos won the first set 76 from being 25 down. Tommy Paul saved THREE match points in a 9 deuce game to take the second set to a tiebreak against Carlos, which he won 70.