Daily Times

TORONTO: Carlos Alcaraz’s U.S Open preparations suffered a setback on Friday as the world number one fell to American Tommy Paul 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open. For the third consecutive match, the Spaniard got off to a sluggish start on the hard courts in Toronto, falling behind early and double faulting to hand Paul the first set. Alcaraz upped his game in the second, hitting a sensational tweener for a winner to level at 3-3 and breaking at love for a 4-3 lead the next game en route to leveling the contest. But Paul took control in the decider, smoking a backhand at the charging Alcaraz that he could not put back in play for a break and pouncing on a poorly executed drop shot from Alcaraz on match point to dismiss the top seed. The 26-year-old Paul will rise to a career-high ranking of at least 12 on Monday and will face either Gael Monfils or Jannik Sinner in the semis. Earlier, Alex de Minaur pulled off a gritty 7-6(7) 7-5 upset of second seed Daniil Medvedev at the Canadian Open on Friday to reach his first semi-final at a Masters 1000 event where he will face Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who swept aside American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 6-2 earlier on Friday.