Paris – Dealing with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open is hard enough for any player. There’s no chance when you’re not at your absolute best against the defending champion, like in the case of Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
No. 2 Seed Alcaraz returned to the Roland-Garros semi-finals for the third year in a row, beating 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.
It took Alcaraz only 52 minutes to collect the first two sets. The 22-year-old Spaniard put together an edge of 23-5 with the winner in that range, with the final total being 40-13.
The third set made things more competitive. Paul led 4-3 as some audience members of Philip Chatelier’s court recited his name. But Alkaraz grabbed the next three games and put things together a little over 1 1/2 hours.
Looking for a fifth Grand Slam trophy, Alcaraz is the first ruler champion in Paris to return to the semi-finals the following year since Rafael Nadal, the 14-time French Open Champion in 2021.
He improved to 20-1 with Red Clay this season, leading the men’s tour with 35 wins and three titles.
Alcaraz’s opponent in the semi-finals is No. 8 Lorenzomsetti, who eliminated No. 15 Francisti in the fourth set on Tuesday. The final two men’s quarterfinals are Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Unseeded Alexander Bublik, No. 3Alexander Zverev vs. 24-time major champion Novak Jjokovic.
Paul, semi-finalist at the 2023 Australian Open, and two-time semi-finalist at the US Open, Tiafour were the first Americans to reach eight rounds in Roland Garros since Andrea Gassi in 2003, and the first pair since Jim Courier and Pete Sampras in 1996.
Since Agassi won the French Open in 1999 to complete his career grand slam, the US men have gone 1-60 against top-10 opponents in the clay court tournament.
