Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open, beating American Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in under 2 ½ hours on Sunday afternoon. Alcaraz is seeking to become the first men's singles player to repeat as U.S. Open champion since 2004. Despite having his longest professional layoff due to a wrist injury before the tournament, Alcaraz dominated Paul, winning 93% of his service games and 76% of deep returns against him. This marks the sixth consecutive win for Alcaraz over Paul, who was competing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open for just the third time.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Here's a summary of the news stories about the US Open tennis tournament:
- Taylor Fritz was cruising to win his third-round match against Francisco Cerundolo, leading 2-0 in sets, but suffered an epic collapse, losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 (Article 7).
- Coco Gauff and Alexander Zverev both advanced to the last 16 of the tournament, with Gauff beating Elena Rybakina in a three-set match (Article 5).
- In other matches, Naomi Osaka overcame a mental and physical battle to outlast Elise Mertens in a three-setter (Article 5), while Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva also reached the last 16 (Article 6).
- Frances Tiafoe beat Medvedev in a thrilling match on Louis Armstrong Stadium, coming from behind to win 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 (Article 8).
- In other men's matches, Andrey Rublev was beaten by Holger Rune, while Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Jannik Sinner (Article 5).
Overall, the tournament has been marked by upsets and close matches, with many top players advancing to the last 16.
Written for “US Open Tennis Tournament” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 18 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 6588 · logged 2026-09-07
Carlos Alcaraz is one step closer to defending his U.S. Open title.
asserted
Alcaraz → defend → title
While there was some concern over the possibility, considering Alcaraz came to Flushing on the heels of his longest professional layoff due to a wrist injury, the speedy Spaniard looks primed to earn a shot at becoming the first men’s singles player to repeat in Flushing in just under two decades.
asserted
Spaniard → be → decades
Steamrolling No. 20-seeded American Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the Round of 16 in less than 2 ½ hours Sunday afternoon, Alcaraz continues to ramp up his game at the right time.
asserted
Alcaraz → steamroll → time
“He was playing on a different level than me,” Paul said.
asserted
Paul → play → me
“I think there are a lot of things I could have done better, but I could have done a lot of things better and still lost that match.”
uncertain
I → think → match
Alcaraz will now face the winner of Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who squared off late Sunday on Ashe.
asserted
who → face → Ashe
Paul was competing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open for just the third time, after the 29-year-old went at least four sets in all three of his previous wins.
asserted
old → compete → wins
That included his upset victory over the No. 15-seeded Alexander Bublik in a five-setter in Round 3 earlier this week.
asserted
That → include → Round
Still, Alcaraz — who has dropped just one set since his return — made it look like a practice match at times against a top 20 player on the tour.
asserted
it → drop → tour
“I’m really happy to see where my level is right now,” Alcaraz said.
asserted
Alcaraz → ’m → ?
“Beating Tommy Paul is always great feedback to see where you are, and just really happy about everything I’ve done today.
asserted
I → beat → everything
I think I returned pretty well.
asserted
I → think → ?
I saw really, really well the game today, what I had to do in every moment.
asserted
I → see → moment
This was always going to be a long shot for Paul, who has now lost six in a row to Alcaraz, as well as seven of their nine total meetings.
asserted
who → go → meetings
Paul hasn’t beaten Alcaraz since the 2023 ATP Masters 1000 Canada, when the latter was just 20 years old.
asserted
latter → beat → Canada
During his on-court interview, Alcaraz said he was able to just play his game and be aggressive.
asserted
he → say → game
He ultimately won 93 percent of his service games, dropping just one for the whole match.
asserted
He → win → match
The way he was returning the ball, however, was just as sharp.
asserted
he → return → ball
Alcaraz simply dominated from the baseline and won 76 percent of deep returns against Paul.
asserted
Alcaraz → dominate → Paul
“On first serve, he did a good job on most every ball he had his strings on, he put it back in the court and deep,” Paul said.
asserted
Paul → do → court
“And then on second serves, I mean, he was kind of mixing up his stance a little bit.
asserted
he → mean → stance
Starting early in the match, he was closer to the baseline trying to take my second serve early, and then he backed up into the first and most of the second serves backed up, took all my second serves from deep.
“Basically, after he got the break in the third, he went back up again.
asserted
he → start → third
I think he was trying to apply extra pressure by coming in.
asserted
he → think → pressure
I think he definitely wanted to make points quick and kind of rush me.”
asserted
points → think → me
