Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed from Spain, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open without dropping a set, defeating the 19th seed Tommy Paul with scores of 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 on January 25.
Although Alcaraz achieved a comfortable victory, it was not an easy win. The young star started slowly, struggling at times against Paul’s powerful shots. Alcaraz fell behind early, dropping his opening service game and trailing 2-4, putting him in danger of losing the first set. However, he made a crucial comeback, employing strategic drop shots to pull Paul into the court and create opportunities for himself. He won a crucial game on his serve and converted a second break-point opportunity in the eighth game to level the set.
The set went into a tie-break where Alcaraz initially lost a mini-break, but he rallied back, capitalizing on mistakes from Paul. A double fault from the American sealed the set for Alcaraz at 8-6.
Following the match, Alcaraz spoke about Paul’s strong start and the early pressure he faced: “Paul began strongly, hitting very powerful shots in the early games. His flat shots were challenging for me. But I tried to stay positive and find opportunities to take the lead.”
Paul, who has recently returned from a three-month injury hiatus, had been in good form, winning five out of seven matches at the beginning of the season. However, he struggled to maintain consistent pressure on Alcaraz in the final two sets, failing to earn any break points despite Alcaraz not being an exceptional server.
This defeat marked Paul’s sixth loss in eight encounters against Alcaraz. Throughout the match, Alcaraz wielded an impressive 35 winners, and after nearly three hours of play, he maintained his record of not losing a single set as he reached the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year. Nonetheless, he has yet to progress beyond this stage in the opening Grand Slam of the year.
Alcaraz’s next opponent will be local favorite Alex de Minaur, who convincingly dispatched 10th seed Alexander Bublik with scores of 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Alcaraz is still on track for his first Australian Open title, which would make him the youngest player in history to complete a major tournament collection.
In the same quarter-final bracket, the third seed Alexander Zverev also secured his place in the last eight with a straight-set victory over Francisco Cerundolo. Zverev is set to face Leaner Tien, another emerging talent, who caused an upset by overwhelming former finalist Daniil Medvedev with a score of 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in another match.
With the tournament progressing, fans can anticipate thrilling matchups ahead, showcasing the rise of new stars alongside established champions in the pursuit of Grand Slam glory.