PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 4, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Reigning Roland-Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz continued defense of his French Open title against Tommy Paul in Tuesday’s featured night session match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
While it was a rematch of their Paris Olympics quarterfinal last year, the result remained the same: an Alcaraz victory. The 22-year-old Spaniard beat the American No. 2 for the fifth time in seven meetings, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and 34 minutes.
It was arguably the World No. 2 and second seed’s best performance of this Parisian fortnight and it advanced Alcaraz to his third consecutive Roland-Garros semifinal. He will face No. 8 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Friday for a berth in Sunday’s title match.
Brilliant from start to finish
Alcaraz delivering a masterclass against Paul headlines our highlights of the day by @emirates. #Emirates #FlyBetter pic.twitter.com/Y4YNDbtLxm
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025
By moving into the last four, Alcaraz became the first defending men’s champion to reach the semifinals in the following year since Rafael Nadal in 2021. His latest conquest, his 11th victory against a Top-20 player this season, was also his ATP Tour-leading 35th win of the season – and 20th on clay. He’s now 35-5 overall and 20-1 on clay in 2025 – both staggering numbers.
After defeating Paul, losing just five games, Alcaraz conveyed his thoughts in his on-court interview with Eurosport‘s Mats Wilander:
“I could close my eyes and everything went in. My feeling today was unbelievable,” Alcaraz said. “I was trying to hit every shot at 100 percent, no matter what, not thinking about anything else, just hitting forward. Today was one of those matches when everything just went in. I’m just pleased with everything.”
Mood: Roland-Garros semifinals #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/A0MT7OkB2E
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025
Indeed, Alcaraz hit effectively off both wings and he kept Paul off-balance with his heavy topspin returns. Statistically, Alcaraz won 88 percent of his first-serve points – dropping just five points out of 43 – and he was just as effective with his second serve, too. He won 83 percent of those points – 10 of 12 – and did not face any break points.
Paul played against Alcaraz with his right thigh heavily taped, which made it made it difficult for him to run, to serve or to hit groundstrokes at full throttle.
“I’ve felt better, you know?” Paul confessed during his post-match news conference, trying to put a positive spin on the outcome. “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.”
While outpointing Paul 91-51, Alcaraz won 56 points on rallies that were 1-4 shots in duration and 26 that were between 5-8 shots. He finished with 40 winners to 22 unforced errors, and converted six of 17 break points. Paul ended the match with 13 winners and made 26 unforced errors.
“We are in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam at Roland-Garros and this kind of match is never easy,” Alcaraz added. “I have played against Tommy many, many times and each match was really difficult. He beat me twice. That helped me at the start of the match to just focus on my tennis, trying not to go down or let him get in the match. I tried to be focused the whole match.”
“I could close my eyes and everything went in.”
Alcaraz’s on-court interview following his win over Paul #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/5wzapUb81Q
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025
Paul took his loss to Alcaraz in stride. During his post-match news conference, the American No. 2 said: “It was not particularly fun. [Carlos] played some great tennis. He returned well and had me on my back foot all the time. He’s playing amazing tennis, obviously. He’s very comfortable here as the defending champion. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the tournament.”
Since winning his first Roland-Garros title a year ago – the third of his four major crowns – Alcaraz has won 32 of 34 matches on clay. Among his recent accolades on the red-brick surface are winning titles earlier this season at Monte-Carlo and Rome. Through his first five wins in this year’s French Open, Alcaraz has dropped just three sets.
Back-to-back-to-back Roland-Garros semifinals #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/i4hZAdjGW2
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025
What does it mean to Alcaraz to be in the semifinals at Roland-Garros again?
“I always say that this tournament is so special to me,” he said. “Every time that I come here, every year, it feels special. Before the tournament began, I was thinking that I wanted to go far in this tournament just to feel the energy from the people match after match. I’m just happy to be in the semifinals, again – third time in a row. So, I’ll try to enjoy this moment and keep on going.”
During his post-match news conference, Alcaraz summed up his upcoming semifinal match-up against Musetti in one sentence. “Against Lorenzo Musetti, it will be a great match to watch,” he said.
Tuesday’s Roland-Garros results
Wednesday’s Roland-Garros order of play
By the numbers
At age 22 years and 20 days, Carlos Alcaraz has become the third-youngest player in the Open Era to reach three consecutive Roland-Garros men’s semifinals, behind Mats Wilander and Rafael Nadal.
“Quotable …”
“It’s always fun playing in Paris. I have to say I know you wanted to watch more tennis. I have to say, I’m sorry about that. I have to do my work. Once again, it’s great to play in front of all of you. I feel the energy. It’s great match after amazing match. Thank you very much for coming and supporting tennis.”
– Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, during his on-court interview Tuesday evening after defeating No. 12 seed Tommy Paul in straight sets.
