The 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz made an exciting comeback in the round of 16 to beat the Polish Tennis star Hubert Hurkacz on Friday(IST) and reach the Quarter-finals of the Canadian Open 2024.
Carlos made a 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(3), enhancing his game before heading towards the US Open scheduled from August 28. The Wimbledon champion started the game in a deficit as the Polish player jumped a 3-0 first-set lead in just six minutes, securing the first set.
The struggle continued for Alcaraz as he was broken during the start of the second set but he managed to equalize 1-1 and from that moment then started to take over the game.
Pole’s serving cooled off as Alcaraz was leading the second tiebreak and took control with an amusing crosscourt forehand, securing a lead of 5-2 in the final, evoking a magical response from the crowd.
But Carlos got a little smart in the next game, attempting constant drop shots on match points which unfortunately landed in the nets leading to an eventual break.
The Poland star regained the momentum, seizing for a 5-5 without losing a point and taking advantage of 6-5.
However, Hurkacz committed mistakes in the third set tiebreaker including an overshot forehand which sailed long and secured a 14th straight win for the World number one.
Carlos will face America’s Tommy Paul in the quarter-final scheduled on August 12. Tommy defeated his countrymate, Marcos Giron in the round of 16 on Friday.
“Honestly I didn’t know what happened,” the Spaniard said on losing his momentum during the final set, he also said that he felt bad at that moment.
He also felt that he couldn’t find the correct way in his shots. “ what I was thinking was to stay calm and try to find a way to overcome his problem” he said while adding his views on losing momentum.
The 20-year-old also said that he started feeling better after the 5-6 serving during the decider. He also added that the big players have the feeling to find a way to stay alive and try to play the match well.
Andy Murray withdraws from Canadian Open:
The three-time champion Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Toronto tournament before his quarter-finals clash against Italy’s Jannik Sinner stating Abdominal strain as the reason.
Murray playing in Toronto after nine years in the city, he had a great tournament so far where he defeated Lorenzo Senogo and Max Purcell to reach the pre-quarters of this masters tournament.
He pulled out of the game moments before players would enter the Court.
Murray said that “ the issue is my abdominal” and he will not be able to play this evening. He also said to his fans that he feels sorry that he let his fans down. He added that he has been in such a situation rarely but he feels terrible.
Andy also revealed that he had faced a similar injury in last year’s Stuttgart final which forced him to miss the Queen’s tournament and also very less time for Wimbledon preparation.
It took him nearly two weeks before he felt good again. This strain is not bad compared to the last one but competing and playing in this tournament will make the situation worse.
He will aim to regain his fitness and gear up his preparations for the Cincinnati Masters which is scheduled a week later.
The 36-year-old Murray might not want to withdraw from the Cincinnati event which would mean letting go of the chance to be seeded for the US Open starting on August 28 in New York.
