The American run at Roland Garros has come to an end, as Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz dismissed Tommy Paul in straight sets after Italian Lorenzo Musetti defeated Frances Tiafoe in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday in Paris.
It marks Musetti’s second Grand Slam semifinal berth and defending champion Alcaraz’s third straight year qualifying for the semis.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, dominated the 12th-seeded Paul early in a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
“I played against Tommy many times, and every match was really difficult,” Alcaraz said post-match. “He beat me twice, so that helped me at the beginning of the match to focus on my tennis … trying not to go down or let him get into the match.”
Alcaraz won a whopping 38 of 43 first-service points (88.4 percent) and only lost seven of his service points in total. He set the tone for the match by winning all nine of his first-serve points in the opening set.
He finished the match with 40 winners against 22 unforced errors. Paul had 13 winners and twice as many unforced errors.
Paul, who defeated the 24th- and 25th-seeded players in the previous two rounds, was the first American man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003. Hours after Paul’s Round of 16 victory, Tiafoe replicated his accomplishment.
On Tuesday, No. 15 seed Tiafoe ran into a red-hot Musetti, the eighth seed. Musetti prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
With the match tied a set apiece, neither player broke serve for the first 11 games until Musetti won the first two points of the 12th to get the edge he needed.
“The third set was really a fight and it was not easy to make a break,” said Musetti, the runner-up to Alcaraz at the Monte-Carlo Masters in April. “Even if I was a little bit tired and it was really tough for me to stay there, I found the extra energy to win this set, and definitely the last set was probably the best set of this match.”
Musetti won an overwhelming 61 of his 75 first-service points (81.3 percent) for the match. He had 45 winners and 32 unforced errors, while Tiafoe managed 33 winners but committed 51 unforced errors.
Musetti and Alcaraz are slated for a Monte-Carlo rematch in the semifinals. The other two quarterfinals will pit No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik and No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany against No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
–Field Level Media
