Carlos Alcaraz reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the third consecutive time on Sunday after inflicting another defeat on American Tommy Paul in one of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
The match was interrupted due to a medical emergency among the fans.
Alcaraz crushed his rival Paul in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year and defeated him in a four-set match at Wimbledon in 2024.
Once again, the world number one inflicted a crushing defeat on the nineteenth-ranked player on hard courts today, defeating him 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 under the midday sun at Rod Laver Arena.
"I started very strongly," Alcaraz said on the pitch. "I knew opportunities would come my way and I think I made the most of them."
He added, "We played at a high level overall, but I am very happy to have won three consecutive sets."
The first set was stopped for approximately 14 minutes when the players were tied 3-3 in the tiebreak, as the medical staff intervened to help a female fan in the upper stands. The elderly woman was able to get to her feet and was helped to leave the court.
When play resumed, Paul committed a double fault on his serve, which led to him losing the set.
One break of serve in each of the last two sets was enough for Alcaraz to win the match.
Alcaraz modified his serving style during the preseason, leading some to compare it to Novak Djokovic's.
The Spanish player said that the Serbian star had sent him a joking message about the matter.
He explained, "I didn't know it was very similar to Novak sending me a message. I received a message from Djokovic saying, 'Okay, you have to pay me.'"
He added, smiling, "I have the contract there, but I haven't seen it yet."
Alcaraz will face the winner of the match between sixth seed Alex de Minaur and tenth seed Alexander Bublik in the next match.
