Carlos Alcaraz at a loss for words over Toronto slump – I started feeling bad

Carlos Alcaraz survived a big test from Hubert Hurkacz at the Canadian Open and he admitted afterwards that he was baffled by his slide in the final set. The world No 1 was given a scare by the big-serving Hurkacz as the Pole won the opening set and then also came back from a 5-2 deficit in the deciding set to take it to a tie-breaker.

Alcaraz, though, found his rhythm again and eventually sealed a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) victory to secure his place in the quarter-final of the ATP Masters 1000 event. Asked after the match about what happened in the third set, he replied: “Honestly, I didn’t know what happened. I started feeling bad at that moment.

“I couldn’t feel the right way in my shots. I didn’t know what happened. But what I was thinking was to stay calm, try to find a way to overcome the problems, and find good feelings again. I think at 5-6 servings, I started to feel better.