World number two Carlos Alcaraz cruises past Tommy Paul in straight sets, moving through the semifinals at Roland-Garros on Tuesday night in Paris.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz produces a stellar performance to dismiss 12th seed Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 34 minutes, advancing to the semifinals in his bid to retain the Roland-Garros title.
In his on-court interview, Rome reigning champion commented: “I could close my eyes and everything went in. My feeling today was unbelievable. I was trying to hit every shot at 100 percent, not thinking about anything else but just hitting. Today was one of those matches when everything just went in.”
A dominant showing by Alcaraz from the onset quickly turned the first set into a one-sided affair that he pocketed 6-0 in just 32 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The four-time ATP titlist hit the center court to face the Spaniard on Tuesday night, short of his best tennis.
He seemed hampered, giving signs of obvious discomfort; his movement was not the usual as well, but he never gave up, leaving his all on court. Furthermore, in the early stages of the event, he struggled with an abdominal injury.
Meanwhile, the Spaniard stayed flawless behind his service - dropped just one point on serve across the set - and clinical with his ripping forehand. A combination that proved too strong against the American player, who saw the defending champion steal the opener by storm.
Unable to weather the storm, Paul was down a break in the fourth game of the second set, as the 22-year-old picked up where he left off with authority, cementing his baseline dominance while executing drop shots with finesse when moving forward.
The four-time major champion raced to claim a 6-1 win in 24 minutes, leading their quarterfinal clash two sets to love.
The Murcia native showcased high-level tennis, as close to perfection as an elite player can be.
On the other side of the net, trailing by two sets down, the world No. 12 made a competitive start to the third set. And after a hard-fought opening game, he held his ground.
Then, the second seed held to love, and so did Paul, inching ahead 2-1.
The world number two dropped his intensity, and the 12th seed capitalized on his chances to even the tie 4-4.
However, the 28-year-old conceded the break in a pivotal ninth game, bringing his late challenge to an end.
The former world number one served out for the match 6-4, a confidence-boosting performance en route to the semifinals, where he will battle against in-form Lorenzo Musetti for a spot in the final.
He hit 40 winners against 22 unforced errors and converted 6 of 17 break points, winning 88 percent of the points on his first serve and 83 percent on his second delivery.
Earlier in the day, the Italian ousted Frances Tiafoe with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory, fighting his adversary and windy conditions.
With this result, the world No. 7 achieved a new career milestone, making it through the last four at all four big clay events this season.
Alcaraz leads Musetti 5-1 in their series, having faced one another this spring twice, at the Rolex Monte-Carlo final and Rome semifinals, both contests won by the former.
Paul Bright Run in Paris
On Sunday, the player coached by Brad Stine became the only active American to reach the last eight at a major on all three surfaces by taking down Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
As a result, he progressed into his fourth Slam quarterfinal overall, having spent 12 hours on the court, a huge effort that took a toll physically ahead of his clash with Alcaraz.
Wednesday’s quarterfinals in the top half of the men’s draw will see world No. 1 Jannik Sinner playing world No. 62 Alexander Bublik, who became the first man representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal after stunning fifth seed Jack Draper in four sets.
In addition, three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic faces world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
