Top-ranked Alcaraz, 2nd-seeded Medvedev fall in quarterfinals at National Bank Open

Carlos Alcaraz delivered the highlight-reel shot of the tournament on Friday night.

Tommy Paul made sure it didn't matter.

Alcaraz nearly turned their quarterfinal match at the National Bank Open in Toronto with a tweener winner that electrified the Sobeys Stadium crowd. He would go on to force a third set but it was Paul who took the decider for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

"I like playing anyone that's a big challenge," Paul said.

The result ended the top-ranked Spaniard's 14-match winning streak and left the event without its top two seeds. Australia's Alex de Minaur dispatched second-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev earlier in the day.

Paul broke Alcaraz in the opening game and kept the pressure on the reigning Wimbledon champion, taking 21 of 23 points at the net.

Alcaraz appeared to gain momentum in the second set when he returned a lob with a tweener — a ball hit between the legs with his back facing the net — to pull even at 3-3.

He broke Paul at love and then took the next two points on his serve. That's when the American played a strong point that he hoped would prevent Alcaraz from taking over.

"At the end of the day, you just want to set the tone for the third set," Paul said. "And I think it really did that. I mean, he held there anyway and won the second [set].

"But I think digging in there kind of let him know that I was going to be there for the third."

Paul, the No. 12 seed, also beat Alcaraz in three sets when they played at last year's tournament in Montreal.

"He's really tough on every surface," Alcaraz said. "I mean he's a mix of everything. It makes him really, really tough."

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.

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.

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.

De Minaur, the world No. 18, has knocked off three seeded players 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 next play seventh-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner, who posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over 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 $7.62-million US tournament.

Swiatek to face Pegula in semis

After breezing through the start of the match, Iga Swiatek felt the momentum shift out of her favour.

But instead of tightening up, the world No. 1 for 71 weeks running increased her intensity — and held off American qualifier Danielle Collins, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on centre court Friday night to reach the semifinals of the women's tournament in Montreal.

"Being intense is the most important thing," said the 22-year-old from Poland. "She's playing really fast, so sometimes it's hard to do that, but I'm happy that in the third set I could even increase the level and just play really powerful and fast."

Swiatek will meet fourth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States on Saturday in her first-ever semifinal at the NBO. The WTA 1000 event runs through Sunday at IGA Stadium.

Collins, who started slow, rediscovered her form midway through the second set and fought back from down a break to even the match at one set apiece.

With Collins gaining steam, Swiatek says she was able to stay calm knowing she'd have a chance to regroup before a third set.

Once there, her plan was simple.

"I really wanted to just swing it," she said. "I try to not overanalyze everything. I have easy solutions."

That proved true as she jumped to an early break. Then, up 4-2, Swiatek hit a backhand winner off the line after a Collins double fault to earn a break point before serving out the match.

Collins bowed out after a terrific run in Montreal.

After winning two three-set qualifying matches — one over hometown favourite Eugenie Bouchard — she beat Wimbledon semifinalist Elina Svitolina, No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari and another local in Leylah Fernandez without dropping a set.

WATCH | Collins beats Fernandez in 3rd round:

Last remaining Canadian bows out of National Bank Open as Leylah Fernandez is eliminated

1 year ago

Duration 1:54

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., fell to American Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the National Bank Open in Montreal.

The 29-year-old, who began the tournament ranked 48th, said the fatigue of playing her sixth match in the tournament may have played a role in her performance, but not as much as her opponent.

"I feel like it's always tough when you have to play the No. 1 player in the world," she said. "It's not easy to get past."

Collins did have success before Swiatek took over the top ranking, however.

The former world No. 7 reached upset Swiatek with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win in the Australian Open semifinals last year.

After that meeting, Swiatek said Collins hit the "fastest balls I have ever played in a match."

"Today I knew that she could do this again because I already experienced it," said Swiatek on Friday. "So I wanted to be proactive and be just really intense for her to feel the pressure as well."

Pegula tops Gauff

Earlier Friday, Pegula got the best of doubles partner Coco Gauff, winning 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in singles play on Friday to advance.

The two players were scheduled to take the court together again later Friday — this time as teammates. However, the world No. 1 duo in doubles withdrew from the event after their intense singles match.

"Always a tough match," said Pegula of facing her friend. "We know each other's games so well, so we kind of know what we're going to do to each other, know what our goal is.

Elsewhere in doubles play, Canadians Marina Stakusic and Carol Zhao lost 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 to fourth seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Ellen Perez of Australia in round of 16 play.

Later Friday, Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, who upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus earlier, won her second match of the day, beating Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 to make the semifinals.

She'll play third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who outlasted 10th seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8) in a quarterfinal that ended Saturday at 2:54 a.m ET.