Tommy Paul is enjoying the upper hand against Carlos Alcaraz in recent times, and not many people can say that. The American is leading 2-1 on head-to-head matches with his Spanish counterpart and is fresh from his victory against Alcaraz in the Canadian Open for the second year running. With the duo set to face off again in the 3rd round at Cincinnati Open, Paul has vowed to ‘change things up’ and expects the world number 1 to do the same.
Paul said in an interview last week that ‘Alcaraz can make you look bad’ and expects the Spaniard to be back to his best form as he plots revenge on the American. Paul predicts this to be a tougher match then the one in Canadian Open, but reiterated that he is relaxed and ‘has a plan in mind’ to repeat his feat of last week.
Tommy Paul will ‘change things up’ to beat Carlos Alcaraz again
Paul defeated Alcaraz 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Rogers Cup in what was an exceptional performance from the American. This was the second consecutive year in which Paul had got the better of Alcaraz on the hard courts in Canada. The American expects Alcaraz to be more hungry after his defeat last week and predicts a ‘very tough and tricky match’.
Speaking to the media in the build up to the game, Paul mentioned about ‘changing things up’ a little from his victory against Alcaraz last week and expected the Spaniard to do the same. He expects Alcaraz to be under less pressure than he was last week and anticipates the 20-year-old to play more freely.
“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.”
Paul expects Alcaraz to change his game more as he tries to break restore parity in their head to head record against the American. Paul further added, that he thinks the player who starts the point of offence more often, will have a better chance at winning.
Paul ‘more excited’ for Alcaraz
Tommy Paul has admitted to being ‘more excited than nervous’ for his match against Carlos Alcaraz. Facing the World Number 1 can be a daunting prospect for many, but Paul thrives on these big occasions and it gets the best out of him. The American says he enjoys the energy around the court during big matches and is ‘excited’ to face Alcaraz again.
“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.”
Paul would be hoping to improve on his amazing run of recent results against Alcaraz and make it 3-1 in head-to-heads with the Spaniard. On the other hand, Alcaraz will be looking for revenge for his defeat last week, as the duo is set to face each other at the Cincinnati Open.
