Alcaraz holds off Paul as Medvedev, Tsitsipas exit Cincinnati

:World number one Carlos Alcaraz fended off in-form American Tommy Paul 7-6(6) 6-7(0) 6-3 to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals on Thursday as other top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas were sent packing.

Alcaraz had not looked like himself in an uneven third round performance on Tuesday but was firing on all cylinders on Thursday as he harnessed his mighty forehand to chip away at Paul's defences in the rain-interrupted battle.

Paul cracked the code to beat the 20-year-old Spaniard earlier this month in Toronto but a handful more errors from the 14th seed this time around helped Alcaraz get the upper hand.

"It was a really tough match," Alcaraz said in televised remarks. "Really, really happy with the level and think I'm getting better and better."

Down a break in the ninth game, Alcaraz found another gear and converted on a break point chance to level the affair.

But he could not take advantage of a 40-to-love head start in the 11th, as Paul proved the ultimate escape artist and closed out the game with a pair of unreturnable serves.

Alcaraz was lethal at the net in the tiebreak and closed out the set with a well-placed slice and a powerful forehand shot that Paul was unable to control.

Paul briefly retook the momentum when he converted on a break point chance in the third game of the second set but frittered away the advantage when he handed Alcaraz a break point with a double fault in the fourth.

They traded breaks twice more before Paul won an epic, nine-deuce 12th game, saving match point three times to stay alive and then sweeping the second-set tiebreak.

But Paul sent one past the baseline to give Alcaraz the break in the opening game of the final set, where he was unable to set up a single break