Carlos Alcaraz Dominates Tommy Paul at US Open

Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t just win at Flushing Meadows anymore. He imposes himself.

On a humid New York night that asked awkward questions of his recently repaired wrist, the Spaniard answered all of them with the brutal clarity of numbers: 33 winners to Tommy Paul’s 18, both men stuck on 32 unforced errors, and yet only one of them ever truly in charge.

Alcaraz came forward 29 times and won 23 of those points, a statement as much as a stat. He landed 67% of his first serves, dropped serve only once in 15 service games, and converted four of the 14 break points he carved out. The scoreline – three tight-looking sets – flattered the American. Across the match, Alcaraz took 99 of 173 points. The gap was wider than the eye suggested.

Paul fought. He always does. He saved 10 of the 14 break points he faced, scrapping, stretching, hanging on. It bought him time and nothing more. Every service hold felt like a stay of execution rather than a shift in the story.

The one genuine tremor came late. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, Alcaraz slipped to 15-40, two of the four break points he faced all evening arriving right there, with the finish line in view. The stadium leaned in. Paul sensed an opening. Alcaraz shut it, calmly. He erased both chances, held firm, then took the next two points as if flicking a switch: a crosscourt forehand winner to bring up match point, a service winner to end it at the first attempt.

Just like that, the danger was gone. So was Paul.

Alcaraz has not lost at Flushing Meadows since 2024. This was his 11th consecutive win at the US Open and his 18th straight victory in hard-court majors, a run that stretches back through last year’s title in New York and this season’s Australian Open triumph. The victory sends him into a 15th Grand Slam quarterfinal and leaves him three matches away from becoming the first man to defend the US Open since Roger Federer’s five-title streak from 2004 to 2008.

The numbers are starting to sound historic. His win rate in hard-court majors now sits at 86.79%, third in the Open era. Only Novak Djokovic and Federer are ahead of him, and Federer’s 86.82% is barely out of reach. Pete Sampras is now in the rear-view mirror.

On court, Alcaraz framed the night as a mission to suffocate Paul’s rhythm, to deny him any foothold. He spoke of Tommy’s dangerous shot-making, of the difficulty in controlling the ball when Paul is striking freely, and of his own determination to stay aggressive, to run, to battle, to keep Paul from ever truly settling on the court. He felt he executed that plan well.

The serenity, he explained, started on return. He talked about putting “so much pressure” on Paul’s service games, using that constant threat to free his own shoulders, to play relaxed, to think clearly. Asked if he is back to full power after four and a half months away, he needed only four words before pointing to his record in New York: with the exception of one year, he has made at least the quarterfinals here since 2021. For him, that says enough about how special this place is and how well he plays every time he walks into this arena.

For Paul, the story remains unfinished in this city. His résumé now shows quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, but still nothing beyond the fourth round in New York. He arrived this fortnight openly targeting a first US Open quarterfinal. He leaves again in the last 16, for the second straight year, and with a sobering head-to-head: seven defeats in nine meetings against Alcaraz.

The road ahead for the defending champion is steep but familiar. Next up is the winner of the fourth-round clash between American No. 8 seed Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Lurking in the same half are No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev, a former champion here, and American No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe. On the other side of the draw waits top seed Alexander Zverev, the Roland-Garros champion.

Three more nights like this, and the wrist that dominated the early summer conversation will be a footnote to a very different story.