PARIS — It’s tough enough for any player to deal with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open. When you’re not at your absolute best against the defending champion, as was the case for Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals Tuesday night, there’s no chance.
No. 2 seed Alcaraz returned to the semifinals at Roland Garros for the third consecutive year with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 12 Paul, who had his right thigh heavily taped and was unable to run, serve or hit groundstrokes at full force.
“I’ve felt better, you know?” said Paul, who had leg and abdominal muscle issues during the tournament. “Obviously, I went into the match like, ‘I want to win the match.’ But pretty early on in the match, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t moving amazing.”
Didn’t help his cause that Alcaraz was at his very best.
“Today was one of those days that you’re feeling great. You feel like every shot was going to be in, every shot was going to be a winner,” Alcaraz said. “You play with a lot of confidence. No fear of anything.”
It took just 52 minutes for Alcaraz to collect the first two sets. The 22-year-old Spaniard compiled a 23-5 edge in winners in that span, and the final totals were 40-13.
“He played some great tennis. Returned very well. Had me on my back foot all the time. Playing so fast,” Paul said. “Even on the changeovers, I felt like he was getting up with 20 seconds left. I was like, ‘You got to slow down.'”
Things got more competitive in the third set, which Paul led 4-3 as some spectators at Court Philippe Chatrier chanted his first name. But Alcaraz grabbed the next three games to wrap things up after a little more than 1½ hours.
“At Grand Slams, the less time you spend on court, it’s great to save energy for the next matches,” said Alcaraz, who is seeking his fifth major trophy. “Can’t ask for a better performance.”
He is the first reigning men’s champion in Paris to get back to the semifinals the next year since 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in 2021.
He improved to 20-1 on red clay this season and leads the men’s tour with 35 wins and three titles.
Alcaraz’s opponent in the semifinals will be No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who eliminated No. 15 Frances Tiafoe in four sets earlier Tuesday. The last two men’s quarterfinals are Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. unseeded Alexander Bublik, and No. 3 Alexander Zverev vs. 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic.
Wearing a chain around his neck with a pendant reading “Big Foe” in capital letters, Tiafoe missed all eight first serves in his initial service game and sent a backhand wide to give Musetti a 2-0 lead. Tiafoe looked at his coach, David Witt, and complained about the wind.
“He didn’t start as he wanted, but today it was really complicated to play well,” Musetti said. “It was so windy and it was difficult to manage to hit properly.”
At match’s end, Musetti had more winners, 44-33, and far fewer unforced errors, 51-32.
Still, when two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Tiafoe smacked a forehand to even the match at a set apiece, he let out a roar and shouted: “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
During that set, Musetti was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct for kicking a tennis ball that inadvertently hit a linesperson. Unlike most top-level tennis tournaments, which rely on electronic line-calling, there are still humans on court at Roland-Garros to decide whether shots land in or out.
The point of the match came in the third set’s sixth game.
Musetti stretched wide of the doubles alley near the net to reach a shot at a seemingly impossible angle. Tiafoe then did the same in response, sending his near the baseline. Musetti ran and, with his back to the net, twisted his body to somehow flick a low ball back with a half-swing. It worked, though, and Tiafoe – perhaps startled to see the point wasn’t over — netted an awkward, shoulder-high volley.
That set swung Musetti’s way when he broke in its last game. On a 12-stroke exchange, Tiafoe tried an ill-advised and ill-struck drop shot that the speedy Musetti got to, conjuring up a down-the-line backhand winner. Now it was his turn to punch the air and yell.
He is 13-4 in his French Open career, and three of those losses came against an opponent ranked No. 1 — Novak Djokovic twice, Alcaraz once.
Paul, a semifinalist at the 2023 Australian Open, and Tiafoe, a two-time semifinalist at the US Open, were the first American men to get to the round of eight at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003 — and the first pair to do so in the same year since Jim Courier and Pete Sampras in 1996.
Since Agassi completed his career Grand Slam by winning the French Open in 1999, U.S. men are now 1-60 against opponents ranked in the top 10 at the clay-court tournament.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
