"Honestly I don't know what happened": Alcaraz baffled at sudden slide against Hurkacz in reaching Canadian Open Quarter-Final

Carlos Alcaraz discussed the challenging match he overcame against Hubert Hurkacz at the National Bank Toronto Open.

World No. 1 showcased his prowess once again to advance to the quarter-finals with a comeback victory over the Polish player, ultimately sealing the win in the third-set tie-break.

The 2-time Grand Slam champion started off trailing in the scoreline, losing the first set 3-6, but managed to push the next two sets to tie-breaks. In the third set, he found himself down 5-2 but made a strong recovery and ultimately triumphed over Hurkacz with a score of 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3).

“Honestly, I didn’t know what happened. I started feeling bad at that moment,” Alcaraz said.

“I couldn’t feel the right way in my shots. I didn’t know what happened. But what I was thinking was to stay calm, try to find a way to overcome the problems and find the good feeling again. I think at 5-6 serving, I started to feel better.

The 20-year-old young star mentioned that top players strive to play well in every match until the last point:

“The big players have that feeling to find a way to stay alive and try to end the match playing well.

“In difficult moments you have to believe in yourself and your style, you have to go for it, it doesn’t matter if you win or not. You have to play the best you can at those times. In the tie-breaks I have done very well, and that is the reason why I got the victory.”

World No. 17 once again suffered a defeat in a Masters 1000 match against Alcaraz, extending the Spanish player's lead to 2-0 in their head-to-head record. In their previous encounter in the semifinals of the Miami Open, Alcaraz secured the victory with two impressive tie-breaks, resulting in a score of 7-6(5), 7-6(2).

The first seed will now face American player Tommy Paul, the 12th seed of the tournament, who previously defeated Argentine players Diego Schwartzman and Francisco Cerundolo, as well as his compatriot Marcos Giron.

The head-to-head record between Alcaraz and Paul is tied at 1-1, with the American's victory coming in the 2022 Canadian Open. At that time, ranked World No. 34, Paul surprised Alcaraz in the second round with a score of 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in favor of Tommy Paul.