Alcaraz Breaks New Ground With Khachanov Win In Paris

Carlos Alcaraz has broken new ground all season, and he did so again on Sunday in Paris.

The Spaniard reached his first Roland Garros quarter-final with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win against 21st seed Karen Khachanov. The sixth seed will next play third seed Alexander Zverev for a place in his first major semi-final.

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Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set of his thrilling second-round five-setter against countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Since that moment, he has shown the form that made him one of the leading favourites at the clay-court major.

In the third and fourth rounds, Alcaraz has won all six of his sets — against Sebastian Korda and Khachanov — by a margin of 6-4 or greater. The 19-year-old lost serve just once against Khachanov to advance after two hours and 14 minutes.

The story of the match could be told by one sensational point at 3-3 in the third set. Khachanov hit a smart, dipping forehand passing shot and then snuck a lob over his teen opponent’s head with his next shot. But Alcaraz had the answer, hitting a stunning tweener lob over Khachanov’s head to break serve.

The 21st seed battled hard throughout to make inroads against Alcaraz, but the sixth seed always seemed to have the answer.

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Khachanov made 35 unforced errors, which did not help his cause. But part of that was because Alcaraz forced him to go for more with his own play. Khachanov is one of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour, but his power, depth and spin did not seem to bother the Spaniard.

Alcaraz hit 37 winners compared to just 19 for the 26-year-old. Khachanov broke for the first and final time in the third set, but the Spaniard got it right back with his stunning tweener.

Alcaraz needed six match points to complete his win, but he finished the job when Khachanov was unable to put a backhand passing shot in play. The 19-year-old will now turn his attention to Zverev, whom he defeated just weeks ago in the Mutua Madrid Open final.

Zverev leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but Alcaraz has significantly improved since his two losses against the German last year. At the Caja Magica, he lost just four games against Zverev to lift the trophy.