The victory, while decisive, was not easy for Alcaraz, especially in the first set. The Spanish player started slowly, appearing flustered by Paul's powerful groundstrokes. Alcaraz lost his opening service game, fell behind 2-4, and faced the risk of losing the set. However, at a crucial moment, the top seed recovered, employing effective drop shots to draw Paul into the court, creating openings for winners. He held his serve cleanly and then capitalized on his second break point in the eighth game to level the score.

Alcaraz then saved a break point in the next service game, pushing the set into a tie-break. In the tie-break, the 22-year-old star again lost an early mini-break but recovered and pulled ahead due to Paul's unforced errors. On the decisive point, the American player committed a double fault, losing the tie-break 6-8.

Alcaraz (right) embraces Paul after their fourth-round match at the Australian Open, on Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia on 24/1. Reuters

Paul had been sidelined for three months at the end of last season due to injury. He returned well at the start of this season, winning 5 of 7 matches. However, in this encounter, Paul did not produce many outstanding shots. The number 19 seed failed to maintain consistent pressure on Alcaraz in the final two sets. During these sets, Paul could not earn a single break point, even though Alcaraz is not known as an impenetrable server.

Losing one break point in each set led to Paul's sixth defeat in 8 matches against Alcaraz. The top seed hit 35 winners, concluding the match in nearly three hours and maintaining his record of not losing a set en route to the quarterfinals. For the third consecutive year, Alcaraz has reached the round of eight at the Australian Open, though he has yet to advance beyond this stage at the first Grand Slam of the year.

Alcaraz's next opponent is local star Alex de Minaur, who comfortably defeated 10th seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Alcaraz remains on track to win his first Australian Open title, which would make him the youngest player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.

"Paul started strongly, hitting very powerful shots in the early games of the match," Alcaraz said after overcoming his American opponent. "His flat shots made it difficult for me. But I tried to stay positive and find opportunities to get ahead."

Also advancing to the quarterfinals in Alcaraz's semifinal bracket is third seed Alexander Zverev, who won his match 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 against Francisco Cerundolo. The tournament's runner-up will face Vietnamese-American talent Leaner Tien in the quarterfinals. In a concurrent match, Tien caused an upset by crushing another former finalist, Daniil Medvedev, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.

Vy Anh