Carlos Alcaraz wins Tommy Paul’s test at the Australian Open | ATP Tour

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Alcaraz passed Paul’s test to book the Australian Open QF spot

World No. 1 will face either De Minaur or Bublik in the last eight

January 25, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz faced his toughest test of the 2026 Australian Open so far on Sunday afternoon, but the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings overcame the challenge of Tommy Paul to maintain his strong start on the hard court in Melbourne.

Alcaraz defeated 19th seed Paul 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 in a fourth-round performance full of explosive shots to improve to 12-0 in sets played so far over the two days. Paul, who owns two Lexus ATP Head2Head cars against the Spaniard, was quick to show the threat he posed by opening 4-2 early inside the Rod Laver Arena. However, Alcaraz quickly recovered from the situation and produced some impressive tennis to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the third time in a row.

World No. 1 things 🔥@carlosalcaraz defeated Paul 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 to return to the quarter-finals.@Australian Open | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/cnTEtNaIuS

– ATP Tour (@atptour) January 25, 2026

The 22-year-old has fired 35 winners, according to Infosys Stats, on his way to a last eight meeting with home favorite Alex de Minaur or Alexander Bublik at Melbourne Park. With his victory that lasted two hours, 44 minutes, Alcaraz once again stayed on track to become the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam (winning singles titles at all four majors). The current holder of that record is his compatriot Rafael Nadal.

In a tight first set, Alcaraz had to fight back from an early break deficit as the 2023 semi-finalist Paul met the strong Spaniard from the start. On the next break, Paul fired a backhand down the line to fend off a set point at 5/6 in what proved to be one of the highlights of the match, but the American quickly undermined that effort by handing Alcaraz the set with a double fault at 6/7.

With the momentum in his favor, Alcaraz rode the purple patch to win a break in the third game of the second set. The 24-time tour-ranking list has produced a string of winners before him especially that had the Rod Laver Arena crowd gasping for the combination of spin and speed.

Paul, who made a strong start to the year after missing the final three months of the 2025 season due to injury, continued to fight back in characteristic fashion in pursuit of a fifth Grand Slam quarter-final. However, while the 28-year-old was not short of quality moments, he was unable to put any real pressure on Alcaraz once the first set got going.

After saving three break points to take the lead 2-1 in the third game of the third set, Paul could not repeat the escape in the 11th game. Alcaraz sought a third break of the match before advancing to 6-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Paul.