Alcaraz survives epic against Hurkacz to enter quarters Medvedev advances, Ruud loses

TORONTO: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain overcame a slow start and a dramatic ending to beat 15th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open.

The Spaniard rallied past Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) to extend his winning streak to 14 matches on Thursday night.

Aiming for his seventh title of the season, Alcaraz improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head-to-Head series with Hurkacz and now boasts a 49-4 season record.

He will next play 12th seed Tommy Paul who beat Marcos Giron 6-2, 6-3.

Alcaraz struggled to find his best level early, committing unforced forehand errors as the Pole won the first three games of the match for the loss of just three points to take the opening set.

Despite being broken in the opening game of the second set, Alcaraz stayed focused and found greater consistency in extended rallies as Hurkacz’s first-serve percentage dropped from 69 per cent to 48.

In the final set, the Spaniard built on that momentum and raced away to a 5-2 lead before Hurkacz dug deep and refused to go quietly. He erased not one, but two breaks of service against him and the set remarkably went yet again to a tiebreak.

Alcaraz is making his Toronto debut this week and is hoping for his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the year after winning in Indian Wells and Madrid.

Daniil Medvedev’s hardcourt mastery continued with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Toronto Masters.

Second-seeded Medvedev dispatched the number 19 Italian in 93 minutes with three breaks of serve, pushing his tour-leading number of hardcourt match wins to 31 with just three defeats.

The 2021 Toronto champion is chasing his sixth title of 2023 and his fifth on hardcourt.

There was disappointment, however, for third-seeded Casper Ruud, who came up just short in his bid to battle past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who pulled the upset 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Medvedev said that despite the relatively straightforward score, blustery winds gave him some problems against Musetti.

“It was not easy to play, it was not the worst wind but it was changing from fast to slow,” he said.

“You can’t hit full power in those conditions, and you don’t know what to expect.

“It was not easy for either of us, but I did enough to win. I missed some shots today, but I had quite a good level, and I’m happy about it.”

Ruud saved two match points in the tiebreaker before succumbing to an opponent who finished with 49 winners and 56 unforced errors. The match was paused for an hour and three-quarter hours in the second set because of rain.

Davidovich Fokina booked a quarterfinal clash with American Mackenzie McDonald, who beat Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-3. Gaël Monfils beat Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 6-4 while Alexde Minaur beat Taylor Fritz 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 in other Round of 16 matches.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has pulled out of the tournament due to an abdominal injury ahead of his round of 16 clash against Jannik Sinner.

After spending nearly five hours on the court across his opening wins against Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell, the Briton was set to face Sinner but he pulled out.

“I have an issue with my abdominal (muscles) so unfortunately I’m not going to be able to play this evening. I’m really sorry,” Murray said, addressing the stadium crowd.

“I feel like I’ve let you down. I’ve rarely been in this situation in my career and I feel terrible,” he added.Agencies
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