Top seeds Alcaraz and Swiatek overcome adversity to advance to the quarterfinals at W&S

Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked players in tennis, got past adverse weather conditions and challenging opponents on Thursday to reach the Western & Southern Open quarterfinals. Alcaraz overcame two rain delays totaling 2 hours, 35 minutes and 14th-seeded American Tommy Paul, who beat him last Friday in Toronto, for a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (0), 6-3 win in a match that lasted 3 hours, 9 minutes. “You’ve got to stay focused,” said Alcaraz, the defending U.S. Open champion and this year’s Wimbledon titlist from Spain.