Tommy Paul explains reasoning behind camera message to his mother after beating Carlos Alcaraz at Canadian Open

A fresh-looking Tommy Paul dedicated his 2022 Canadian Masters second-round defeat of Carlos Alcaraz to his mother at the end of the match.

As is customary at the end of the match, the American signed the broadcast camera with a 'Hey mum' message on Wednesday.

While tennis players are notoriously superstitious in their beliefs, a change in routine probably helped Paul get past Alcaraz.

The 25-year-old revealed the reason behind the message in an interview on Tennis Channel. He said that his freshly shaved look was purely due to his mom wanting him to get rid of his beard.

"I usually keep the play-off beard all the way through the end of a tournament, even through the end of the whole swing. But my mom has actually been on my a** about it. Last night, she was telling me to shave the beard, so I did it for her," he said.

"And that's why I signed it a the end, I said 'hey mom' just so she knew," he added.

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Tommy Paul saves match point to stun Carlos Alcaraz at 2022 Canadian Open

Tommy Paul scored the biggest win of his hardcourt swing with a 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3 defeat of Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 Canadian Masters. The World No. 34 recovered from a set and two breaks down to make the biggest upset of the tournament so far and progress to the third round.

After winning a tight first set, the Spaniard broke Paul twice early in the second set to take a 4-1 lead. That's when the 25-year-old dug deep and started playing some of the best tennis of his career. He won the second set to force a decider, where he raised his level to seal an impressive win.

In his post-match press conference, Paul stated that he's always excited to wake up early and take on the world's best players.

“I mean, it's hard not to wake up for the primetime matches like that., When I play, like, top-level people, Top 5, Top 10, I'm really excited, you know? Like when I wake up in the morning, the alarm is not as bad as the normal 6:45 alarm! Yeah, I was pumped, ready to go today. I was fired up. I knew that with him, like, I would have to play a high level of tennis. I mean, I just tried to prepare for that,” he said.

Tommy Paul will take on 13th seed Marin Cilic on Thursday, after the Croatian beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2 in his second-round contest.