Top-seeded Alcaraz and second-seeded Medvedev fall at NBO Toronto

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Upsets ruled at the National Bank Open on Friday.

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American Tommy Paul eliminated top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the evening quarterfinal, a few hours after Australia’s Alex de Minaur surprised second-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev.

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Paul ended the reigning Wimbledon champion’s 14-match winning streak with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory at Sobeys Stadium.

After Alcaraz dropped the opener, he appeared to gain momentum after making a highlight-reel shot in the second set. He returned a lob with a tweener — a ball hit between the legs with his back facing the net — for a winner to pull even at 3-3.

Alcaraz broke Paul at love in the next game and forced a decider. But just like he did against Alcaraz at last year’s tournament in Montreal, it was Paul who would earn the three-set victory.

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Earlier, de Minaur came through with a tenacious 7-6 (7), 7-5 win to reach his first career Masters 1000 semifinal.

He came back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set and was 1-5 down in the tiebreaker.

“I was very level-headed and at no point in that match did I feel frazzled at all,” de Minaur said. “I knew my game plan. I stuck to it.”

Medvedev, the 2021 NBO Toronto champion, struggled with his serve at inopportune times on a warm, sunny and breezy afternoon at Sobeys Stadium.

The Russian served for the first set at 5-3 but double-faulted on break point. De Minaur followed with a hold to pull even.

In the tiebreaker, Medvedev raised his fist skyward after winning a long rally for a 5-1 advantage. But de Minaur chipped away and saved three set points — including one on a double-fault — before taking an 8-7 lead.

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The Australian converted on his first set point when a Medvedev shot sailed long.

In the second set, Medvedev was up 4-3 when he double-faulted on break point. His seventh double-fault overall came on match point.

Medvedev said he has a tendency to really “go for” the second serve.

“There’s always a question, like maybe you hit some double-faults but maybe you also hit some good (serves) at important moments,” he said.

Medvedev, who has won five ATP Tour titles this year, fell to 22-4 at Masters 1000 events and 31-4 on hard courts this season.

De Minaur will next face Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a battle of unseeded players.

Davidovich Fokina pulled away in the second set of the early quarterfinal for a 6-4, 6-2 win over American Mackenzie McDonald.

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“He was playing amazing at the beginning and then made a few mistakes and I believed more in myself,” Davidovich Fokina said. “It gave me a lot of power.”

De Minaur, the world No. 18, has knocked off three seeded players this week in Medvedev, eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz and No. 11 Cameron Norrie.

The 37th-ranked Spaniard, meanwhile, has wins over No. 3 Casper Ruud and 13th-seeded Alex Zverev.

“I think we’ve both shown that we kind of deserve to be here by the opponents we’ve beaten,” de Minaur said. “So it shows that we’re both playing some great tennis. We’re both playing some confident tennis.”

Paul will play the winner of the late match between seventh-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner and Gael Monfils of France.

McDonald was coming off a third-round victory over local favourite Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. Raonic, a wild-card entry, was the last of the five Canadian singles players to be eliminated.

Play continues through Sunday at the US$7.62-million tournament.

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