Alcaraz tops injured Paul in three sets to advance to French Open semifinals

It's tough enough for any player to deal with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open. And when one is not at his absolute best against the defending champion, as was the case for Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, there's no chance.

The second-seeded Spaniard reached the last four at Roland-Garros for the third consecutive year with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory over the USA's Paul, who had his right thigh heavily taped and was unable to run, serve, or hit groundstrokes at full force.

"I've felt better, you know?" said the American, who had leg and abdominal muscle issues during the tournament in Paris. "Obviously, I went into the match like, 'I want to win the match.' But pretty early on in the match, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't moving amazing."

It didn't help his cause that Alcaraz was at his very best.

"Today was one of those days that you're feeling great. You feel like every shot was going to be in, every shot was going to be a winner," Alcaraz said. "You play with a lot of confidence. No fear of anything."

It took just 52 minutes for him to polish off the first two sets. The 22-year-old compiled a 23-5 edge in winners in that span, and the final line was 40-13.

"He played some great tennis. Returned very well. Had me on my back foot all the time. Playing so fast," Paul said. "Even on the changeovers, I felt like he was getting up with 20 seconds left. I was like, 'You got to slow down'."

Things got more competitive in the third set, which Paul briefly led 4-3 as some of the spectators at Court Philippe-Chatrier chanted his first name. Alcaraz grabbed the next three games, however, to wrap things up after a little more than an hour-and-a-half.

"At Grand Slams, the less time you spend on court, it's great to save energy for the next matches," said Alcaraz, who is seeking his fifth major trophy. "Can't ask for a better performance."

Alcaraz's next opponent will be Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Musetti used his sleek one-handed backhand and sprint-then-slide court coverage to advance to his first semifinal at Roland-Garros, and second at any Grand Slam tournament, with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over the USA's Frances Tiafoe.

The eighth-seeded Musetti and World No. 1 Jannik Sinner – who will face unseeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday – gave Italy two male quarterfinalists at Roland-Garros for the first time since 1973.