Alcaraz loses just five games in stunning Roland Garros QF performance

Match Report

Alcaraz loses just five games in stunning Roland Garros QF performance

Spaniard next faces Musetti

Julian Finney/Getty Images Carlos Alcaraz defeats Tommy Paul in straight sets to return to the semi-finals in Paris. By Sam Jacot

Carlos Alcaraz produced his best performance of the tournament on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where he dispatched American Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the third consecutive year.

At the end of the second set, Alcaraz had dropped just one game and looked on course to set a new personal best result at a major. The Spaniard’s most lopsided major win came against J.J. Wolf in the first round at the clay-court major last year when he dropped just four games.

While he was unable to better that record on Tuesday, the 22-year-old was still able to advance in rapid time, producing a red-hot display during the rout on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

"I could close my eyes and everything went in," Alcaraz said. "My feeling today was unbelievable. I was trying to hit every shot at 100 per cent, not thinking about anything else, but just hitting. Today was one of those matches when everything just went in."

Alcaraz put on a show under the Paris lights! 🙌@carlosalcaraz books his SF spot after an impressive 6-0 6-1 6-4 victory over Paul.@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/aqtLN8jPNE — ATP Tour (@atptour) June 3, 2025

The 22-year-old timed the ball cleanly off both wings to hit through the defences of Paul, constantly rushing the American with his incredible depth and heavy topspin. Paul had given Alcaraz problems in the past, winning meetings in Montreal in 2022 and Miami in 2023. However, the 28-year-old, who struggled with an abdominal injury earlier in the tournament, could not to gain any foothold against Alcaraz under the Parisian night sky.

The second seed struck 39 winners and committed 22 unforced errors to improve to 5-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having also beaten Paul en route to the silver medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

"We are in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam at Roland Garros and this kind of match is never easy," Alcaraz said. "I have played against Tommy many times and each match was very difficult. He beat me two times. That helped me at the start of the match to just focus on my tennis. Trying not to go down or let him in the match. I tried to be focused the whole match."

With his one-hour, 34-minute victory, Alcaraz became the first defending champion to reach the semi-finals the following year since Rafael Nadal in 2021. The 22-year-old will look to advance to his fifth major final when he takes on Lorenzo Musetti on Friday.

Alcaraz now owns a 32-2 record on clay since last May, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, highlighted by his maiden Roland Garros title. The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has won ATP Masters 1000 titles on the surface in 2025 in Monte-Carlo and Rome.

Paul was competing in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time, having become the first American man, alongside Frances Tiafoe, to reach the last eight in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003. The 28-year-old is up four spots to No. 8 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and is set to rise to a career-high on Monday.

Did You Know?

Alcaraz is bidding to become just the third man this century to successfully defend his Roland Garros title, alongside Rafael Nadal (10 times) and Gustavo Kuerten (2001).

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