Defending champion Alcaraz powers into US Open quarter-finals

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, gaining confidence with every match, cruised into the US Open quarter-finals on Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Tommy Paul.

The second-seeded Spaniard, playing his first tournament after a four-month absence with a right wrist injury, beat Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his fifth quarter-final at Flushing Meadows -- where he won the first of his seven Grand Slam titles back in 2022.

The 23-year-old Spaniard will face either eighth-seeded American Ben Shelton or resurgent Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the semi-finals.

In Paul, Alcaraz faced his first top-25 player of the tournament and he rose to the occasion, firing 33 winners in the two-hour, 20-minute victory and improving to 7-2 against the American.

Alcaraz finally broke through in a tight first set with the first break of the contest, earning three set points and converting the second.

From there, it was almost all Alcaraz. He broke Paul twice in the second set and again early in the third.

He finished it off in style as he saved a pair of break points in the final game, the second with a swinging forehand volley followed by a forehand winner to set up the only match point he needed.