Alcaraz renews rivalry with Djokovic

CINCINNATI—Carlos Alcaraz has put his quarter-final loss at the Toronto Masters behind him as he prepares to renew his rivalry with Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati next week.

The Spanish world number one made a surprisingly early exit in Canada, bundled out of the last eight by Tommy Paul in three sets to end a lacklustre campaign.

But the 20-year-old was in no mood to dwell on that loss on Sunday as he looked ahead to the Cincinnati Masters, the last warm-up before he launches the defence of his US Open crown later this month.

This week’s tournament in the Midwest carries added intrigue with a field that contains 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.

Women’s

“What’s good is that we have continuity in what we’re doing,” said Gustavsson.

“We have a clear playing style, so we don’t really need to train to be tactically prepared.

“It’s more about making sure we’re mentally and physically prepared for the semi-final. These players are on a mission.”

Vice-captain Steph Catley said they were “just primed for this moment”.

“We’ve got a perfect little balance of a core group that understand the gravity of the situations and a small group of younger players who might not understand the gravity, which is kind of bliss,” she told reporters.

“You’ve got their confidence and their flair, and then we’ve got mature (players) bringing an understanding to moments like that.” AFP