Carlos Alcaraz apologized to the French Open crowd after a quickfire win over Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals. He outclassed the American in one hour and 34 minutes, 6-0. 6-1, 6-4.
Alcaraz entered Paris after a remarkable title-winning run in Rome. He continued his rich vein of form by cruising past Damir Dzumhur, Ben Shelton, and Tommy Paul en route to the semifinals.
The Spaniard jokingly apologised to the French crowd in attendance during the quarterfinals. He knew they expected an exciting contest, but insisted he was doing his job.
“It’s always fun playing here in Paris. I know you wanted to watch more tennis, I have to say sorry about it – I had to do my work! I could close my eyes and everything went in. My feeling today was unbelievable,” Carlos Alcaraz said.
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Alcaraz is the defending champion at the French Open. He reached his third consecutive semifinal in Paris and seventh overall at Major events.
The 22-year-old has been excellent on clay this year, garnering 20 wins from 21 matches, including title-winning runs in Monte-Carlo and Rome. He also secured a runner-up finish in Barcelona, where he lost to Holger Rune in the finals.
He spoke about his performance against Tommy Paul and said:
"We are in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam at Roland-Garros and this kind of match is never easy. I've played against Tommy many, many times and every match was really, really difficult. He has beaten me twice, so that helped me at the beginning of the match, just to focus on my tennis."
Alcaraz also added that it was a great day for him and everything worked in his favor. He tried to be as offensive as possible against Paul.
"I was trying hit every shot at 100%. I was not thinking about anything else, just hitting forward and yeah, today was one of those matches that everything went in. I’m just pleased with everything," he added.
Carlos Alcaraz will take on Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinal of the French Open
Carlos Alcaraz is making his fifth appearance at the French Open this year. He will take on Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals on Thursday.
While Alcaraz edged past Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals, Musetti eliminated Frances Tiafoe in four sets. He defeated the American 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head against Musetti 5-1. He outfoxed the Italian most recently in the 2025 Italian Open.
The duo have faced each other four times on clay in the past. Musetti has beaten the Spaniard only once at the Hamburg Open final in 2022.
