TORONTO (AP) — Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz of Spain rallied to beat 15th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) on Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open.
Preparing for his U.S. Open title defense, the 20-year-old Wimbledon champion ran his match winning streak to 14, dating to his Queen's title run. He leads the tour with six victories and 49 match victories against just four losses.
"In the tough moments you have to believe in yourself, try to go for it," Alcaraz said. "It doesn't matter if you win or not. You have to believe you are going to play your best in that moment, try to play aggressive. I think in the two tiebreaks I did pretty well. That's why I got the win."
Alcaraz led 5-2 in the third set and twice served for the match before closing out Hurkacz in the tiebreaker.
"Honestly, I didn't know what happened," Alcaraz said. "I started feeling bad at that moment. I couldn't feel the right way in my shots. I didn't know what happened. ... The big players have that feeling to find a way to stay alive and try to end the match playing well."