Toronto Masters: Alcaraz comes back from a set down to beat Hurkacz

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, edged out Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 15 seed, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) to move into the quarter-finals of the Toronto Masters at the Aviva Centre on Thursday night.

It was a gritty performance from the world No 1, who didn’t play his best tennis, but found a way to win anyway.

Having dropped the first set, Alcaraz was forced to win back-to-back tiebreaks against the man who has won more tiebreaks on the ATP Tour this year than anybody else. And yet, in the crucial moments, Alcaraz played his best tennis, blitzing his way through both deciders 7-2 and 7-3.

The Spaniard required five match points to close out the match, however, having conceded a double break in the third set. With both men hitting more unforced errors than winners, this may not have been the most eloquent match to watch, but it certainly was entertaining.

Alcaraz, ranked No 1, will face the winner of the match between No 12 seed Tommy Paul and qualifier Marcos Giron next.

Ahead of his victory, the 20-year-old Spaniard beat American Ben Shelton (6-3, 7-6 (3)).

Hurkacz, ranked No 17, won against Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-3, 7-6 (2)) and Serb Miomir Kecmanovic (5-7, 6-3, 6-0) earlier in the tournament.

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Alcaraz makes stellar debut in Toronto, taking out Shelton in straight sets to stretch his winning streak to 13

Tennis Majors

Toronto Masters, other last 16 results (Aviva Centre, hard, USD 6.600.000, most recent results first):

• Andy Murray vs. Jannik Sinner
• Tommy Paul vs. Marcos Giron: friday
• Gael Monfils beat Aleksandar Vukic (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Alex De Minaur beat Taylor Fritz (8): 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1
• Daniil Medvedev (2) beat Lorenzo Musetti (16): 6-4, 6-4
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Casper Ruud (3): 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4)
• Mackenzie McDonald beat Milos Raonic (WC): 6-3, 6-3