Carlos Alcaraz Dominates Tommy Paul at US Open
Carlos Alcaraz does not so much survive danger at Flushing Meadows as smother it.
On a cool New York night that promised a street fight and briefly threatened an upset, the defending champion turned a tricky fourth-round test against Tommy Paul into another hard-court major statement. The scoreline said three tight sets. The numbers told a different story.
Alcaraz in control, even when it looked close
Alcaraz finished with 33 winners to Paul’s 18, both men stuck on 32 unforced errors. That symmetry was deceptive. The Spaniard dictated when it mattered, where it mattered, and how long each rally would last.
He came forward 29 times and won 23 of those points, picking his moments to attack with the confidence of a player who trusts every step on this surface. He landed 67% of his first serves, faced just four break points across 15 service games and surrendered his serve only once. On the other side of the net, Paul spent the night firefighting.
The American saved 10 of 14 break points, a brave effort that kept him in touch but never truly in charge. Across three sets, Alcaraz won 99 of 173 points. For a match that went the distance in each set, that margin bordered on ruthless.
One real scare – and a ruthless response
The only stretch of genuine peril came late. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, Alcaraz slipped to 15-40. For the first time all evening, the crowd sensed a shift. Two of the four break points he faced all night arrived right there, with the set and Paul’s hopes hanging on them.
Alcaraz shut the door.
He erased both chances, then the next two points as well, tightening his grip just as Paul tried to pry it open. A crosscourt forehand winner brought up match point, a clean service winner sealed it at the first attempt. No drama, no second invitation.
A Flushing Meadows streak gathers weight
Alcaraz has not lost at Flushing Meadows since 2024. This was his 11th straight win at the US Open and his 18th consecutive victory at hard-court majors, a run stretching back through last year’s title in New York and this season’s Australian Open crown.
The result pushed him into a 15th Grand Slam quarterfinal and moved him within three wins of history: no man has defended the US Open since Roger Federer’s five-title run from 2004 to 2008. Alcaraz is edging into that kind of statistical neighborhood now.
One number underlined it. His win rate in hard-court majors now sits at 86.79% in the Open era, third behind Novak Djokovic and Federer. Federer’s mark of 86.82% is only fractionally higher; Pete Sampras is now in his rear-view mirror.
“I just tried to be ready for the battle”
On court, Alcaraz framed the night as a mission to suffocate Paul’s rhythm, not simply outlast him.
“Tommy’s such a talented player. I think his shots are pretty dangerous and sometimes pretty difficult to control the ball when it comes to you,” he said. “So I just tried to be ready for the battle, to be ready to run if it matters, and trying to be aggressive all the time, trying not to let him stay on the court. So I just think I did it pretty well.”
The key, he explained, came from what he did on return.
“I just put so much pressure on the return games, which for me it helps a lot to play relaxed, to play calm, to think clearly.”
Asked if he felt fully back to his peak after four and a half months away earlier this year, he didn’t need many words. “Except one year, since 2021 I make almost quarterfinal here. So that means how special this place is to me, that means how good I’m playing every time that I come here.”
At Flushing Meadows, his belief now feels baked into the court.
Paul’s New York wait goes on
For Paul, this was another step that stopped at the same familiar barrier. His record now shows quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. In New York, the line still reads: four attempts, no quarterfinals.
He arrived this year saying plainly that a last-eight spot here was the next box to tick. He leaves again in the fourth round, for the second straight season, and with another defeat to the man who has become his biggest problem. Paul has now lost seven of nine matches against Alcaraz.
He bought himself time with those 10 break-point saves. Time, and nothing else.
A loaded path ahead
Alcaraz now waits for the winner of the fourth-round clash between No. 8 seed Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas, a choice between the explosive American left-hander and the Greek shotmaker he knows so well. Beyond that, No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev, a former champion here, and American No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe sit in the same half of the draw.
On the far side, top seed Alexander Zverev, the Roland-Garros champion, looms as the likely final obstacle.
Three more nights like this one and the questions about Alcaraz’s wrist, his layoff, and his readiness will fade into background noise. The only thing that will matter then is a simpler, sharper issue: who, on a hard court, can stop him?
