Carlos Alcaraznumber 1 in the world, remains firm in its quest to win its first Australian Open. For now, he has already reached the quarterfinals – the highest level he could reach in Melbourne. after beating Tommy Paul (20th) by 7-6 (6), 6-4 and 7-5 in two hours and 38 minutes of play.
What is it like playing against the Spanish? That was the question they asked the American at the press conference after the defeat against the young man from Murcia. Without holding anything back, the American responded with total sincerity and left several phrases to rescue.
“I would describe it like this: suffocates yousomehow. It makes you feel like you don’t have time. It rushes you“, expressed the 28-year-old native of the municipality of Voorhees, New Jersey, about the nightmare of playing against the leader of the ATP.
“He completely surpassed me, he did what he wanted”completed the North American, executioner of his compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic (56th), the Argentine Thiago Tirante (103rd) and the Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (14th), about what ended up being his fifth defeat, fourth in a row, against the pupil of Samuel López, 22.
“I really don’t know what made the difference today. The truth is that he played better than me in all three sets. Definitely I have no excuse this time. Today left me exposed. I tried to do the rally from right to right and he did it much better than me, that’s what I felt. It seemed that he got all the bosses he wanted, and it was very difficult for me to get the ones I wanted,” added the owner of four titles at the highest level.
Finally, the one who will lose 200 points in the order, as a result of defending the quarterfinals, said: “I started much better than him. In that first set game, 4-3, when he broke my serve, I didn’t get a single first serve. I simply felt that, when I needed to serve the first, I didn’t. At that moment I think he took the reins of the match. His right cross was devastating for me, to be honest“.
In any case, Paul also took the fact of having to face Alcaraz, the next rival of local Alex de Miñaur (7th), with humor. “The easiest part of playing against him is that you know you’re going to have a good time at least. When we have long points, the public loves it, we love it. You know you’re going to have fun points. That’s the good part of playing against Carlos,” he concluded.
The Australian Open 2026 can be followed live on the Disney+ Premium Plan screen.
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