“You Got Carlos Alcaraz’s Number!”: Tommy Paul Outlines How to Beat Spaniard Ahead of Rematch

American tennis sensation Tommy Paul recently was seen in an interview with Prakash Amritraj in which he was asked about him being one of the few players to get the better of Carlos Alcaraz. Paul has beaten Alcaraz in two consecutive years at the Rogers Cup in Canada. Amritraj declared that Paul is the one to ‘have Alcaraz’s number’ on the ATP Tour, and the American responded with the claim that raw aggression was part of his strategy.

Fans are in for a rematch between the two once again at the Cincinnati Masters with both players drawn in the same half. Paul is going strong and will meet Alcaraz in the third round after beating Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the Round of 32. Will the American’s strategy work once again and give Paul his third win over the Spanish prodigy?

“Carlos Alcaraz can make you look bad”: Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul was exceptional in his quarter-final match in the Rogers Cup recently against Carlos Alcaraz. He won the first set, 6-3 after breaking one of his service games. As expected, Carlos did hit back, winning the second set, 6-4. However, Paul regrouped to claim the final set, 6-4 as well.

The American believes that his booming and accurate serves were extremely critical since because of those, he was able to keep Alcaraz on his toes. He believes that playing against the World No.1, one needs to be at their best and that too, aggressive best. If he didn’t do so, Alcaraz would have beaten him easily since he pounces on poor shots and body language. Paul also feels that winning break points gave him the slight advantage that he needed to beat him.

Paul also revealed that his inability to put pressure on Alcaraz courtesy some misjudgments along with the Spaniard’s skills helped him win earlier this year in their Round of 16 match at the Miami Masters. Nevertheless, he now leads their rivalry, 2-1 and could play each other twice in the North American swing. Paul is also the one to deny Carlos Alcaraz a 15th consecutive win this season.

The American also credited his ability to go out of his comfort zone, especially on critical points, which makes him try different types of shots fearlessly, as one of the possible reasons to get past a player like Carlos Alcaraz.

Paul was quoted as saying –

“With Carlos Alcaraz, you know, if you are not coming out playing your best tennis, he is going to jump on you, he can make you look really bad. I mean, in Miami, I didn’t play a bad match but it wasn’t 4-in-4. It was less than 4-in-4, he beat me pretty bad

“Against him, you got to come out and play your A-game, you got to play aggressive from the jump. I tried to do that and obviously an early break helps my confidence go well throughout the rest of the match and I kind of just rode that wave.”

Tommy Paul claims Alcaraz is ‘the best’ athlete in tennis

Paul also gave due respect to Alcaraz, claiming that he deserves to be considered as the very best in the game. The Spaniard has stunned fans with his athleticism being compared to fellow countryman, Rafael Nadal at the age of 20. Alcaraz has a surprise range of shots on the baseline as well as on the net that continues to stump his opponents at any venue on any surface. The fact that he can cover all parts of the court with ease, makes him the next superstar of tennis, who can overtake the ‘Big Three’, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic once the latter two retire.

Tommy Paul is of the opinion that players like him need to work hard to beat Carlos Alcaraz. He also credited his trainer, Franco for helping him try to understand his strategy due to his Spanish language skills. This is something Alcaraz might need to be careful about, facing Paul in the future.

“He is absolutely one of the best athletes in tennis if not the best. I work with my trainer Franco and he does a really amazing job of translating onto the tennis court and we work hard, so glad that it is showing.”