He doesn’t care if he has to play day or night, but this Carlos Alcaraz is unbeatable in Australia. The Murcian defeated this Sunday … to Tommy Paul (7-6 (6), 6-4 and 7-5) and for the third consecutive year he reaches the quarterfinals in Melbourne, his highest in this tournament, but this time it is the first time he has done so without giving up a single set along the way.
Alcaraz was already assured of leaving this tournament as number one in the world, but now he also knows that everything he wins from now on will help him widen the gap with Jannik Sinner who will not be able to add anything when defending the 2025 crown.
The Spaniard, who years ago had Paul as one of his betes noires on the circuit, beat the American for the fifth consecutive time. He has won the last eleven sets they have played, although this time Paul was close to scratching the first. He had 2-4 in favor, while in the tiebreaker he enjoyed 4-5 and two serves. He did not take advantage of it and Alcaraz improved from then on, supported by a service with which he no longer allowed a single breaking ball.
Samuel López’s preseason decision to change his serve dynamics, matching it to that of Novak Djokovic, is working. He won 79% of first serves and 68% of seconds.
«My serve is surprising even me, to be honest. I have worked on it for a long time and I am happy to see the improvement in the percentages. After each set I look at the statistics on the screens and if I haven’t done well, I try to improve. In the four games I have played it has been an important weapon for me,” said Alcaraz, who made reference to the anecdote that Djokovic told a few days ago.
The Serbian, seeing on social networks that Alcaraz’s new serve was similar to his own, wrote to the Spaniard to ask for money for help.
«During the preseason my new move came out and I hadn’t realized it looked like his. One day I woke up and saw that I had a message from him telling me that I had to pay him.
With this victory, Alcaraz is now the third Spaniard in history with the most fourth-place finishes in Australia, only behind David Ferrer, who reached this round six times, and Rafael Nadal, who did so on 14 occasions.
It is the second time that he has made it this far in a Grand Slam without losing a set, as he already did at the US Open. There the streak lasted until the final, when he lost one against Sinner.
The Murcian will face Alex de Minaur for a place in the semifinals, who easily eliminated Alexander Bublik (6-4, 6-1 and 6-1). The Australian, a very defensive and fast tennis player, has never beaten Alcaraz (5-0). De Minaur had match point in his first match, in the semifinals of the Conde de Godó in 2022 and since then he has only won one of the eleven sets they have played.
On the other side of the draw, Djokovic has benefited from the absence of Jakub Mensik due to an abdominal problem. The Serbian, ten-time champion of this tournament, will not have to play in the round of 16 and goes directly to the quarterfinals, where he will face Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti. This is an important boost for Djokovic, who will have a rest before the quarterfinals and could arrive in better physical condition for a possible duel in the semifinals against Sinner.
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