'He’s beaten me before' — Alcaraz warns of tough challenge ahead

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he is ready for a ‘difficult’ and ‘complicated’ contest against America’s Tommy Paul. Both players are set to face off in the quarterfinals of the French Open on Tuesday.

Alcaraz cemented his spot in the last eight of the second Grand Slam of the year after beating America’s Ben Shelton with a score of 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. On the other hand, Paul secured his spot in the quarterfinals of the competition after beating Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Alcaraz spoke to the media ahead of his next encounter in his title defence. The reigning world number two stated that he is aware of how difficult it is to play against Paul who has defeated him in the past contests. Alcaraz also stated that matches against the 28-year-old have always been ‘difficult’ and ‘complicated’.

“I remember that every match against him was difficult, complicated,” he said. “In Grand Slams, in Masters 1000s, in every tournament I've played him in, it's been complicated. I've lost several matches against him. And he's in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam again. His level is very good right now. He's confident. So the match will be quite interesting. I'm going to try to find my way, to gain the upper hand, to learn from the mistakes I made today, and not to repeat them against Tommy. But I think it will be very interesting for the public to watch because every time we meet, we raise our game to the maximum. There are good points, long rallies, very good quality. It will be great and very "nice" to watch. I think it will be a good quarter-final.”

It will be the seventh meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous six meetings, Alcaraz had an edge as he won on four occasions and suffered defeats on two occasions. Their most recent meeting came in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics, where the young Spaniard came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6.