Alcaraz Manhandles Paul, Advances to French Open Semifinals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlos Alcaraz’s bid for another Grand Slam title on the clay surface is still on track after overwhelming Tommy Paul in straight sets- 6.0, 6.1, 6.4- to march to the semifinal round of the ongoing French Open on June 4, 2025.

From his first-round matchup against Giulio Zeppieri, Alcaraz’s performance against Paul has been the most dominant one, tallying a total of four break points while amassing 98 total points won in just three sets.

Alcaraz shook off his slow start during his fourth-round encounter against Ben Shelton and came out piping hot with his vicious down-the-line forehand bombs that piled up his offensive tally.

No matter what crosscourt slice return that Paul unloaded in hopes of getting Alcaraz off guard, the 22-year-old went all out in the opening set, blanking the American challenger while breaking all of his service possessions.

Nothing changed in the following period as Alcaraz kicked off the set with back-to-back service holds, but Paul switched to a more conventional approach as he stuck to the baseline and went away from attacking the net.

Even fighting Alcaraz fire with fire didn’t work, as his power and baseline accuracy proved to be too much every time he scored a flick backhand stroke.

The more competitive action came in the third set when Paul’s signature flat forehand shot finally penetrated through Alcaraz.

Paul had some moments in the final set, but Alcaraz stole the show in the remaining two game sets after a service hold and a dazzling display of his net skills.

Alcaraz attempted for several serve-and-volleys which turned out well, and iced the match with a booming forehand that Paul failed to receive to set up the highly-anticipated semifinal clash against world no. 8 Lorenzo Musetti.

Musetti is currently having a stellar campaign at Roland Garros, taking down Francis Tiafoe in the quarterfinals while also eliminating Holger Rune in the fourth round.