Alcaraz delivers statement win to reach last eight

Carlos Alcaraz continued his return from long-term injury with a hugely impressive fourth-round win against Tommy Paul at the US Open.Playing just his fourth competitive singles match after an absence of more than four months, the 23-year-old Spaniard produced a masterful performance to beat American 20th seed Paul 6-4 6-3 6-4.He has dropped only one set on his way to the last eight in New York and his quarter-final opponent will be either American eighth seed Ben Shelton or Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.A wrist injury caused Alcaraz to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this summer.He had won the previous two Grand Slams - last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open - meaning the straight-set victory over Paul extended his run of match wins at the majors to 18.Asked on court if he is back to "full power", Alcaraz smiled as he replied: "I think so. Except for one year since [his US Open debut in] 2021, I've made the quarter-finals here. That shows how special this place is to me and shows how well I'm playing every time I come here."I just try to enjoy my time on the court and it doesn't matter that I was out for four and a half months - every time I come here, I play my best."Shelton and Tsitsipas meet in Sunday's night session and seven-time major champion Alcaraz has never previously lost to either player at Tour level, beating Shelton three times and Tsitsipas on six occasions."If Shelton were to come through, he is the kind of player that can knock the racquet out of your hand," said American former player Jeff Tarango on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra."It's going to be a real test to see how Alcaraz's wrist is with a 149mph serve coming to that forehand, but Alcaraz should get through Shelton if his wrist is fine."Alcaraz said after his third-round win that he was happy with the level of fitness he had shown in the early rounds following his lengthy absence, while he demonstrated against Paul that the quality of his shot-making is as good as ever.One sensational cross-court forehand winner early in the second set, which landed in from an almost impossible angle, was measured at 103mph.That came shortly after Alcaraz had broken Paul's serve in the 10th game of a tight, high-quality opening set to take it 6-4.Paul, who was attempting to reach the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam for the first time, battled hard throughout but Alcaraz proved to be too strong.Paul had two break points when Alcaraz served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but the two-time US Open champion put together a run of four straight points to seal victory.Former British number one Tim Henman told Sky Sports: "When you haven't played tennis for four weeks, it seems a lot and you can be a bit rusty. This is four and a half months."If you would have given Alcaraz a blank piece of paper at the beginning of the tournament and asked how he'd want the first four matches to go, he would have scripted it exactly like that."He's had a few slightly challenging moments but, in the important moments, he's just come up with incredible tennis. That's got to give him so much confidence moving forward."