The U.S. GIs stepped forward to challenge defending champion Alcaraz

Tomorrow at half past two in the morning, the 2025 French Open 1/4 finals, Paul VS Alcaraz, the American GIs have challenged the defending champion Alcaraz one after another.

Previously, in the 1/8 finals of the 2025 French Open, the world's No. 13 American left-handed cannon Shelton, and the defending champion Alcaraz on the hard bar, fought fiercely and excitingly, with high technical content.

In a tie-break in the first set, Sheldon missed three set points in succession, and instead lost on Alcaraz's second set point; In the first game of the second set, the two battled for 14 minutes, and Sheldon missed break points five times before Alcaraz successfully held serve, and later lost another set at 3:6; In the 10th game of the third set, Sheldon performed well in Alcaraz's unbreakable service game, as if he was open, and won a series of difficult and wonderful victories, and finally broke successfully for the first time on the second break point and set point, and won the set 6-4; In the fourth set, Alcaraz was inspired by Shelton to improve his form, and finally won the match with the only successful break at the beginning of the set to win the match with a score of 6-4.

What is even more commendable is that there was also a dramatic scene in the first game of the second set of this match. When the referee misjudged Alcaraz to score a flying racket on his serve (40:30), Alcaraz immediately waved his hand and voluntarily admitted the foul stroke, reawarding the point to Shelton (30:40). In this way, the score went from a set point for Alcaraz to a break point for Shelton. Such an honest and fair, sportsmanlike Alcaraz is admirable and has left a good story.

At 2:30 a.m. tomorrow, American GI Paul, ranked 12th in the world and back in the top 10 in the world rankings, will once again launch a strong attack on defending champion Alcaraz after his compatriot Shelton.

Born in May 1997, Paul won the French Open junior title in 2015 and turned professional in the same year. After 10 years on the ATP Tour, Paul has been steadily rising steadily. Won the first title of his career in 2021 (AP250 Stockholm); In 2022, he reached the round of 16 of Wimbledon, the Canadian Rogers Cup, and the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters; In 2023, he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the round of 16 of the US Open and the semifinals of the Rogers Cup Masters in Canada, and is ranked 13th in the world at the end of the year, well above the 32nd at the beginning of the year.

In 2024, Paul will go one step further and win three tournaments (ATP 250 Dallas and Stockholm, ATP 500 London Queen's Cup) and end the year at 12th in the world rankings. Two Grand Slam third rounds (Australian Open and French Open), one to the round of 16 (US Open) and one to the quarterfinals (Wimbledon); Two Masters semi-finals (Indian Wells and Roma).

After reaching the quarterfinals of the 2025 Australian Open, Paul hit a career-high ninth place in the world rankings on 27 January, placing him in the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time. Heading into the clay season, Paul lost to British handsome Draper in the fourth round of the Madrid Masters, and was defeated by Italian newcomer Wang Sinner in the semi-finals of the Rome Masters. Although Paul still missed out on his first Masters final, he also showed good competitive form and could not hide his ambitions for the 2025 French Open.

At the 2025 French Open, Paul's form in the second and third rounds was up and down, and he fought two consecutive five-set games to get through these two rounds. However, in the 1/8 finals, Paul was in good shape and played well, defeating Australia's only active master Poperin with a score of 6:3 in three times, breaking into the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time in his career, sharpening his knives and challenging the defending champion Alcaraz.

Serbian star Novak Djokovic said of Paul: "Very explosive and energetic, he likes to step into the court and dominate every point with his forehand. The backhand is solid and the serve is excellent. Alcaraz, who has played four and lost two of the six meetings in his career and is familiar with Paul, said: "Paul has a lot of all-round ability, he does a good job in all aspects, and he is a very well-rounded player. He shoots well both front and back, and moves well. He's one of the best players on the tour and it's going to be very tough every time he plays against him. ”

Interestingly, American GI Paul seems to have a special affinity with Spaniards, often encountering Spaniards on tour. Starting from losing to the Spanish god of war Nadal at the ATP 500 Acapulco station in 2022, to losing to the Spanish all-round warrior Alcaraz in the 1/8 finals of the 2023 Miami Masters, Paul defeated Spanish players 12 times in a row across the season in one year, defeating Nadal, Alcaraz, Agutte, Busta, Fokina and others, becoming a big sufferer for Spanish players.

Alcaraz and Paul have faced each other six times in their careers. Although Paul has previously defeated Alcaraz in the Canadian Rogers Cup Masters in 2022 and 2023, he has also lost to Alcaraz four times and is currently in a three-game losing streak. Especially in the quarter-finals of last year's Paris Olympics, the last time the two met in their careers, Alcaraz defeated Paul in two sets 6:3 7:6 at the Roland-Garros Tennis Park in Paris.

After nearly a year, in the 2025 French Open quarterfinals, Alcaraz and Paul will meet for the seventh time in their careers.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Colorful Bean Powder)