MELBOURNE : Carlos Alcaraz stepped up his bid for a maiden Australian Open title with a masterclass to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday by dismissing the American Tommy Paul.<\/p>\n
The six-time Grand Slam champion won 7-6 (8\/6), 6-4, 7-5 to equal his best run in Melbourne and is yet to drop a set.<\/p>\n
The Spanish top seed plays home hope and sixth seed Alex de Minaur or 10th seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan for a place in the last four.<\/p>\n
If Alcaraz, 22, can break his Australian duck he will become the youngest man in history to win a career Grand Slam of all four majors.<\/p>\n
“He started really strong, really strong shots, it was a bit difficult at the start,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But I knew I would have my chances.<\/p>\n
“Overall it has been a really high level of tennis from both sides, really happy I got it in straight sets.”<\/p>\n
The encounter at Rod Laver Arena took place in significantly cooler conditions compared to Saturday, when temperatures approached 40C and matches on outside courts were suspended.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz suffered the worst possible start, his serve broken in the first game by the 19th-seeded Paul.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz saw two break points on the American’s serve come and go, Paul forging a surprise 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard had Paul under pressure again in the eighth game, Alcaraz this time grasping the chance to break and level the set.<\/p>\n
They went to a tiebreak and it was finely poised at 3-3 when a medical emergency in the crowd brought a halt to play for about 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
The interruption seemed to hurt Paul more, double-faulting to gift Alcaraz the set.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz carried the momentum into the second set, breaking once to move to within a set of victory.<\/p>\n
It was just a matter of time after that, Alcaraz sealing an emphatic win in two hours and 44 minutes.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz has been especially strong on serve, surprising even himself with how clean he is on his first serve in particular.<\/p>\n
“In general in the four matches the serve has been a really important weapon for me,” he said.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz’s new-look serve has been compared to Novak Djokovic and the Serbian great joked in Melbourne that he is expecting a slice of the Spaniard’s winnings.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz has in the past struggled with precision and a lack of consistency in his serving technique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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