When Tommy Paul steps on court Thursday at the Western & Southern Open, he will do so to face Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. For many players, that would be an intimidating experience.
There is good news for the American: He just defeated the Spaniard last week in Toronto.
“It helps a little bit, but at the same time, it probably doesn’t hurt him,” Paul told a small group of media after his second-round win over Ugo Humbert. “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.”
Paul leads Alcaraz 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with both his victories coming at Canada’s ATP Masters 1000 event. Last week, Alcaraz battled back to force a deciding set, but the Australian Open semi-finalist’s aggression ruled the day.
How will the 26-year-old balance reusing a winning game plan with preventing his opponent from fully adjusting?
“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 said. “He’s not going to do the same exact thing. He’s going to probably look to change things up more than I am. But at the same time, with me and him I really do feel like it’s about who starts the point on offence more often.”
Neither player in Toronto was able to dominate behind his serve, with both failing to top 65 per cent of service points won. In their clash this year in Miami, which Alcaraz won in straight sets, the Spaniard won 75 per cent of his service points.
Regardless of how the strategic element of the clash plays out, Paul is excited for another opportunity to play on a big stage — the match will be on centre court — against the No. 1-ranked player in the world.
“He’s obviously an unbelievable player,” Paul said. “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 is also confident having reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. But the 14th seed does not believe his performance there necessarily applies in Cincinnati.
“The conditions here are so, so different that when I got here, and when I played my first-round match, it felt like I was starting completely from scratch again,” Paul said. “I think I got confidence from the match today. I played honestly an unreal first set, I didn’t miss too many balls at all. So I’m going to have to play a good match tomorrow and I plan to come out and play aggressive.”
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Quietly, there is more at stake than a match win for Paul against Alcaraz. The American is quickly closing on the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The World No. 13 is 25 points behind No. 12 Alex de Minaur and 275 points behind No. 11 Karen Khachanov. De Minaur lost to Gael Monfils on Wednesday and Khachanov withdrew before playing his first match. Every win draws Paul closer.
“I think everyone else pays attention to it a lot more than I do. It’s hard to not hear it. Like when I first showed up here, I see Frances and he’s in the locker room like, ‘Man, if anyone’s going to bump me out of the Top 10, I wanted it to be you,’” Paul said. “I was like, ‘Dude, I wasn’t even thinking about that.’ Like when I was playing [Jannik] Sinner. I had to beat Sinner [in the Toronto semi-finals] and then win another match to get Top 10. I’m not really thinking about it too much.
“I’m 13. I still have to get to 12 and then 11 and then 10. So I’m worried about getting to 12 right now, and I’m worried about winning my match tomorrow.”