The truth is that one has to make an effort to remember that Carlos Alcaraz spent almost half a year without playing due to injury. And that, with no adaptation period or match practice, he reappears at this US Open, a Grand Slam and therefore best-of-five sets, with high-quality opponents from very early on. Because at Flushing Meadows we are seeing the Carlos Alcaraz of old, the versatile and effective player who has made victory seem normal. As if nothing had happened to him.
Proof of this was his match against Tommy Paul, won 6-4, 6-3 6-4. Paul is No. 21 in the ATP rankings, but not long ago he was in the “top 10.” He has beaten the player from El Palmar twice (although the last time was in 2023, and the Spaniard had beaten him on six other occasions, and now on seven) and this year he has already been champion -in Houston-. But in this match he had no chance against Carlos, even though he did not play badly. What happened was that he came up against, if not the best version of Carlos Alcaraz, certainly a very professional one, solid in both play and mentality, who after 4-4 in the first set won four games in a row to go up 6-4 and 2-0, and when in the next game Paul got the “break” back, he hit back immediately. He also came through the extremely dangerous moment when, as he was serving for the match, Paul went up 15-40.
Carlos managed, above all, to find the right solution to every circumstance in the match. He was effective at the net when he needed to be, dominated with his forehand when necessary, and forced his opponent to play at the limit , making him commit errors while he was able to choose his shots better. In the end, two hours and twelve minutes to reach the quarterfinals. There he will face the winner of Shelton-Tsitsipas, which will be played on the New York night session. A match that will have historical significance: there has always been in the semifinals of a men’s Grand Slam tournament a player who played a one-handed backhand. In this tournament only Tsitsipas can keep the tradition alive. To do so, of course, he will have to beat Shelton… and then Carlos.
In doubles, Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar reached the round of 16 by defeating the British pair Dart and Lumsdel 6-2, 6-2
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