June 04, (THEWILL) – Carlos Alcaraz delivered a devastating performance under the lights at Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday night, dispatching Tommy Paul in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
The 22-year-old Spaniard required just one hour and 34 minutes to dismantle the American 12th seed 6-0 6-1 6-4, losing only five games in a one-sided quarter-final encounter.
Alcaraz, the reigning champion in Paris, struck 40 winners and limited himself to 22 unforced errors, brushing off inconsistent showings in earlier rounds.
“It was, I could close my eyes and everything went in,” he said in his on-court interview.
He added, “My feeling today was amazing. I am just pleased with everything.”
Paul, who had beaten Alcaraz twice before, failed to trouble the Spaniard early on and did not get on the scoreboard until the eighth game of the match.
The 28-year-old struggled to contain his opponent’s mix of heavy groundstrokes, deft drop-shots and sharp lobs.
Although he fought back in the third set, Alcaraz broke in the ninth game and served out the match to love.
Addressing the center-court crowd after his swift victory, Alcaraz said, “I know you wanted to watch more tennis. I have to say sorry for that. But I had to do my work.”
Paul has now lost four consecutive matches to Alcaraz, including their previous meeting in Paris during the Olympic quarter-finals.
Alcaraz will face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals, their third meeting of this clay-court season.
He defeated Musetti in the Monte Carlo final and again in the Rome semi-finals, setting the stage for a rematch that will determine whether the Spaniard continues his title defence on Sunday’s final.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
