CINCINNATI: Carlos Alcaraz withstood a string of frustrating rain delays to beat Tommy Paul 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/0) 6-3 on Thursday, avenging a loss to the American last week and reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open.
Paul was unable to repeat his sensational upset of the world No. 1 from last Friday in Toronto, where he stunned the Spaniard in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz had squandered three match points before the first of a string of rain delays that forced players off and on the court in a logistics ballet that finally ended after more than three hours.
But he held on to book a quarterfinal meeting with Australian Max Purcell, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Swiss Stan Wawrinka. After the final rain pause, Alcaraz, up a break in the third, came out and finished off the final few points, advancing with 40 winners and 61 unforced errors. “I really wanted to win after what happened against him last week.