Carlos Alcaraz in the 2026 US Open Tommy Paul after a definitive victory, with No. No. 2 player was placed, beating the Americans in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
In state play, Sunday’s victory marks the 14th straight that Alcaraz has won against the Americans. Paul is not in charge of Alcaraz because he is in charge of Wimbledon in 2024, although the two have already stood there four times.
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Although Paul could not break through again this time, he did battle in the first set: Alcaraz and Paul traded games until the young Spaniard finally broke the American’s serve to win 6-4.
Alcaraz seemed to be taking it easy in the second set, but Paul started to fight back, breaking many points before Alcaraz could defeat him.
Paul fought off another break from Alcaraz in the third set of games, clawing back three points from a close scoreless game. But Alcaraz recovered well to grab the break point and put him on the road to victory.
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With Alcaraz one game away from winning — and Paul not getting one up in the third — Paul was able to sweep through his final serve without allowing Alcaraz to grab a point back. However, the American was unable to stop Alcaraz, with the Spaniard using his power to subtly break Paul.
Alcaraz barely missed a step when he returned from a wrist injury that sidelined him for 4-6 months. The Spaniard, at the kick, showing things bravely, beat the Roman Safiullinus in a straight line; Although he lost the first set to Jaime Faria in the second round, he pulled back for another win, and then set his sights on beating Wu Yibing.
Initially, Alcaraz’s return with the world No. 1 Iannik Sinner pulling out of the tournament with a knee injury left the impression of a wide open plate in men’s singles. But even after a long season, Alcaraz continues his dominance: he is now 63-0 in major tournaments after the first two rounds.
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Alcaraz will now continue his journey to defend his 2025 US Open title in the quarterfinals, facing No. 8 Ben Shelton, who puts Stefanos Tsitsipas on the live post Sunday — what he learned from talking about his race on ESPN.
“I didn’t see the draw … oh my god,” Alcaraz said, after revealing that he would be facing the winner of Francis Tiafoe-Daniil Medvedev. (Tiafoe beat Medvedev in a straight line victory for Alcaraz.)
Paul, meanwhile, will fall out of the Grand Slam quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive tournament, with a final quarterfinal appearance at Roland-Garros coming in 2025.