Carlos Alcaraz said he needs to have more confidence in his game following his surprise defeat by American Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open and the world No 1 is hoping to iron out any issues in Cincinnati next week
Saturday 12 August 2023 16:06, UK
Carlos Alcaraz admitted he "needs to improve a lot of things" after suffering a shock defeat to American Tommy Paul in the National Bank Open semi-finals in Toronto.
Wimbledon champion Alcaraz, who was on a 14-match winning streak, made a slow start for the third straight match in Toronto and fell to a 6-3 4-6 6-3 defeat - his first since the French Open semi-finals in June - with the loss a blow to his preparations ahead of the defence of his US Open title.
"I realise that I didn't play well, these matches," Alcaraz said after losing to Paul for a second straight year in Canada. "All I can do now is practice to be better. I have some weeks before the US Open.
"But now I have to be focused on Cincinnati. It's a Masters 1000. It's a big tournament as well. Obviously, I take a lot of lessons from this tournament.
"I think I did well some things, but probably everything can be better. I always say you can be better in everything even if you've played your best matches in your career.
"But right now, I have to improve a lot of things, getting more confidence in my game."
Alcaraz could meet Paul again in Cincinnati next week and the 20-year-old is aware of the threat the American poses in the last warm-up tournament before the US Open from August 28 to September 10 - live on Sky Sports.
"He's certainly a complete player. The matches that we've played have been really tough ones - last year in Miami and this one," Alcaraz said.
"He's a really solid player. Has great talent, great shots. He's really fast as well.
"So he's one of the best players in the world right now. There's no doubt about it. He's really tough on every surface. He's a mix of everything. It makes him really tough."
A battle of WTA stars who had babies in October headline the women's draw of the Western & Southern in Cincinnati.
Caroline Wozniacki will be playing her second event since coming out of retirement to take on Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina in the opening round.
Wozniacki had her second child - James - in October, just days after Svitolina welcomed her first - a daughter, Skai.
Top seed and world No 1 Iga Swiatek, will face either American wild card Danielle Collins or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Novak Djokovic, a two-time tournament champion, returns to North America for the first time since the 2021 US Open final.
The second seed will play either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Tomas Martin Etcheverry with British No 1 Cameron Norrie and Jannik Sinner potentially beyond that, while Borna Coric will begin his title defence against Sebastian Korda.
Andy Murray has been drawn to face 11th seed Karen Khachanov, but the Scot will wait and see whether he recovers in time for the tournament after pulling out of the National Bank Open with an abdominal strain ahead of Thursday's match against Italy's Sinner.
