Carlos Alcaraz's quest for 1st Australian Open title stays on course

Carlos Alcaraz has won six major titles and 24 ATP championships before his 23rd birthday, which occurs in May. He has won on every surface, but the Australian Open has eluded him. In fact, the Spaniard has never reached the semifinals.

But the top seed in Melbourne reached the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year with a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 19 Tommy Paul in sunny, but cooler conditions at Rod Laver Arena.

Alcaraz leads the series 6-2 over Paul and has won five straight.

Heading into the match, Paul had reason for optimism because they have split four previous matches on outdoor hard courts. He jumped out to an early lead, breaking Alcaraz in a five-point first game.

But Alcaraz broke back in the eighth game of the set, forcing it to a tiebreaker. Paul had the tiebreaker on his racquet at 5-4, but lost both serves and ended up dropping the critical first set.

Alcaraz did not face a break point in the second set and gave Paul few opportunities, winning 20 of 27 points on serve.

Paul saved three break points in the third game of the third set, but only won five points on Alcaraz's serve through five service games. At 5-5, the match came to an end quickly, as the 2025 U.S. Open champion dropped only two points in the final two games of the match.

Alcaraz won 76% (71 of 94) on serve and a sizzling 86% (19 of 22) points at the net.

"I'm surprising myself, to be honest," said Alcaraz post-match, when asked about his high first-serve numbers. "The serve is something I've been working on. ... For me, I am really happy to see the improvement of the serve.

"In general, in the four matches I've played, the serve has been an important weapon for me."

Alcaraz has not dropped a set through four matches in Melbourne.

Alcaraz will face the winner of the night session's match between sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur of the host country and 10th-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.

--Field Level Media/Reuters