Carlos Alcaraz remains unbeaten at the Australian Open, coming through another tough test to see off Tommy Paul and book his place in the quarter-finals.
So far, Alcaraz hasn’t dropped a set through his first four matches, but he’s had to dig deep along the way.
It’s been a consistent theme of his tournament. Despite not dropping a set so far, wins over both Paul and Yannick Hanfmann were among the longest straight-set matches of his career.
“There was more clarity in what he was trying to do. It was one of those rare matches that you looked at him as if it didn’t seem like a huge celebration when he won,” Henman said during Amazon Prime Video’s coverage.
Henman impressed by Alcaraz’s focus in Paul win
Henman had some positive things to say about how Alcaraz played against Paul, after raising questions about his form earlier in the tournament.
Speaking about Alcaraz’s journey in the Australian Open on TNT Sports, Henman said: “A couple of times in the early rounds I’ve thought he looked a little bit distracted.
“Sometimes the shot selection hasn’t been quite as good as it could have been. I mean that is a problem when you’ve got so many shots to choose from.
“I think today against Tommy Paul, this is someone that has been in the latter stages of Slams, is a former top 10 player, so I think that really focused his attention. His intensity at the right moments was good, and he will be absolutely delighted to already be through to the quarter-finals.”
Tommy Paul has previously beaten Alcaraz twice at Masters level, making him one of the few players with multiple wins over the Spaniard. But this time around, Alcaraz came out on top again with a convincing straight-sets win, marking his sixth career victory over Paul.
Alcaraz Moves ahead of Borg and Becker with record-breaking feat
Every time Alcaraz steps onto the court at this year’s Australian Open, it seems like he adds another record to his name, and his latest win over Paul was no exception.
The Spaniard has now reached 14 Grand Slam quarter-finals, more than anyone else in the Open Era before turning 23.
He had previously shared the record with Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker, both of whom reached 13 quarter-finals before turning 23. Now, Alcaraz holds the mark alone.
This result also matches his best showing at the Australian Open, having made it to the last eight in back-to-back years.
If Alcaraz goes on to win this year’s tournament, he would become the youngest player ever to complete a Career Grand Slam.
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