National Bank Open | Carlos Alcaraz eliminated by Tommy Paul

(Montreal) Tennis fans could have expected great things from Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at the National Bank Open, but he only made it through to Montreal.

Alcaraz blew two three-game leads in the second set and was upset by American Tommy Paul in three sets 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3 on Wednesday in the second round .

Leading 3-0 and 4-1 in the second set, Alcaraz inexplicably made a lot of mistakes which opened the door for Paul, who felt the Spaniard’s frustration rising.

Falling Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the first round, Paul used a nice variation of power and precision to get back into the match and he closed the door to his opponent in the last set, on his fifth match point.

The American, who will be making his first appearance in the third round at the National Bank Open, will now cross swords with the winner of the duel between Croatian Marin Cilic and Russian Karen Khachanov.

Alcaraz, the second seed, was on his first visit to Montreal and he still left his mark by making several shots that got the crowd going. However, he committed as many unforced errors (36) as winning shots.

After taking the first run, Alcaraz seemed in perfect control in the second run, but everything fell apart. Paul saved a set point in the tiebreaker and forced a final set.

Paul saved two break points in the first game of the third set and broke the Spaniard in the fourth game to put himself in position to cause an upset.

Norway’s Casper Ruud (#4) struggled in the first set against Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, but prevailed 7-6(3), 6-3 in nearly two hours.

After breaking his opponent in the third game of the first end, Ruud dropped a set point and was broken while leading 5-4.

In the tiebreaker, the Norwegian stole two points from Molcan before winning the first set. In the second set, Ruud broke the Slovak in the fourth game and closed the books on his third match point.

Ruud will now face Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (no 14), who eliminated American Jenson Brookby 7-5, 6-1.

For his part, the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta dominated the Dane Holger Rune in two sets of 6-0, 6-3.