Carlos Alcaraz defended his decision to play at this year's Hopman Cup and admitted it had no correlation to his shock defeat at the Canadian Open.
For the second year in a row, lighting struck twice as Alcaraz was sent packing by American Tommy Paul in three sets in Canada. It's a massive setback in Alcaraz's preparation for the upcoming US Open where he will put his title defense on the line.
Alcaraz, therefore, establishes a bridgeable 600-point lead on Novak Djokovic in the live rankings, with the Serbian star confirming his return to action at next week's Cincinnati Masters. That means we are in for a grandstand finish in the race for the ATP No. 1 before the US Open.
Many tennis fans questioned Alcaraz's quick turnaround from Wimbledon, taking just five days of rest time before playing the revived Hopman Cup in Nice, France late last month. With this year's team tournament played on clay, Alcaraz had to transition between three surfaces by the time he played in Canada, but did not attribute his defeat to Paul for lack of preparation on hard courts.
"No, I don't think so. I had a lot of days, you know, to prepare for this tournament on hard court. I practiced well. So I don't think Hopman Cup was something bad, you know, about this tournament."
Alcaraz now has a losing record against Tommy Paul (1-2)but he profoundly heaped praise on the American's versatility and talent. Alcaraz had 'no doubt' Paul is one of the best players in the world at the moment, and he was not overly surprised by his shotmaking abilities.
"I mean, he's certainly a complete player. You know, the matches that we have played have been really tough ones, you know, last year in Miami and this one. He's a really solid player. Has great talent, great shots. You know, he's really, really fast as well. So he's one of the best players in the world right now. There's no doubt about it."
Alcaraz will head to Mason, Ohio, to spearhead the second Masters 1000 hard court tournament this summer. He has a bye in the first round of the tournament but could play American wild card John Isner or a qualifier in the second round.
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