Carlos Alcaraz is still very much the man to beat in New York.
Under the lights on Arthur Ashe, the defending champion swept past American hope Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, a straight-sets win that looked as assured as the scoreline suggests and kept his US Open title defence firmly on track.
This was billed as a test. It never quite became one.
Paul, ranked 21 in the world and roared on by a home crowd desperate for an upset, came out swinging in the opening set. He went after the Alcaraz serve, pressed on the return, and forced the Spaniard to play from uncomfortable positions. Several times, Alcaraz had to dig out of tight service games, the rallies stretching, the tension building.
He waited. Then he struck.
On his very first real chance to break, Alcaraz pounced, ripping through Paul’s serve and snatching the set 6-4. One opening, one break, and the champion had his foothold. The American had done plenty right, yet still trailed. That dynamic would define the night.
The second set tightened the screw.
Alcaraz raised the tempo, stepped inside the baseline and began to dictate with that heavy, fizzing forehand. Paul cracked first, surrendering his serve as the Spaniard surged ahead. For a brief moment, the match threatened to tilt the other way when a forehand error from Alcaraz handed the break straight back and gave Paul a lifeline.
It didn’t last.
Stung, Alcaraz immediately went after the Paul serve again. The forehand that had just betrayed him became his weapon, tearing open the court and dragging the American from side to side. A third break followed, the crowd on Ashe erupting as Alcaraz closed out the set 6-3. The defending champion walked to his chair with a two-set lead and the look of a man who knew the numbers: he has never lost a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets.
Paul tried to reset in the third. He went searching for angles, trying to shorten the points, looking for any crack in the Alcaraz armour. Instead, he ran into a wall. An early break for the Spaniard killed the suspense, and from there the contest became an exercise in control.
Alcaraz guarded his serve with authority, mixing pace and spin, refusing to offer Paul a route back. Each time the American threatened to apply pressure, the response was cold and clinical. A big first serve. A searing forehand. A quick hold. The clock ticked down on Paul’s resistance.
At 6-4 in the third, it was over – three sets, no drama, just a champion moving through the gears at the season’s final Grand Slam.
The victory carries weight beyond the scoreline. It returns Alcaraz to a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in 150 days, a reminder of his enduring presence at the sharp end of the sport. More importantly, it reinforces his belief as he chases a second straight title at Flushing Meadows, a place that already feels like his stage.
The draw will only get tougher from here. But with his record after taking the opening two sets intact and his game sharpening with each round, the question now is simple: who stops him in New York?
