San Francisco Frontiers - Alcaraz ousted in Montreal Masters opener

The unseeded American converted his fifth match point to seal the second-round victory in three hours and 20 minutes.

Alcaraz came into the event with two prestige Masters 1000 titles from Miami and Madrid and holding a 42-7 record this season.

But the 34th-ranked Paul claimed victory on a volley winner after holding off the Spaniard's charge from 5-2 down in the third set.

"It was nice to finish this match at the net," said Paul, who fired 36 winners to Alcaraz's 33. "I did a lot of things well today.

"I played a good level of tennis, comfortable tennis. I'm happy to get through and now have to recover for tomorrow."

Paul fired 36 winners to Alcaraz's 33.

Fourth seed Casper Ruud backed up his defeat earlier this season of Alex Molcan, beating the Slovakian 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in just under two hours.

The Norwegian with three trophies so far in 2022 had to work to win the opening set after dropping serve as he tried to close it out leading 5-4.

It eventually took a tiebreaker for Ruud to prevail. He sealed his third-round place in straight sets for his 36th win of the season.

"We played in Munich so we know each other's games well," Ruud said. "It's always a tough fight against him.

"He's very fast and can give everyone problems," he added of the player coached by Novak Djokovic's former mentor Marian Vajda.

P.Thomas--SFF