American soldiers challenge defending champion Alcalas

At 2:30 am tomorrow, in the quarter-finals of the 2025 French Open, Paul VS Alcalas, the US soldiers challenged the defending champion Alcalas one after another.

Previously, in the 2025 French Open 1/8 final, the 13th-ranked American left-handed cannon Sheldon, the defending champion Alcalas, the battle was fierce and exciting, and the technical content was very high.

In the first set, Sheldon missed three inventory points, but instead lost to Alcalas' second inventory; in the first game of the second set, the two fought for 14 minutes, Sheldon missed the break point five times, which allowed Alcalas to successfully retain the serve, and later lost another set 3:6; in the tenth game of the third set, Sheldon performed well in Alcalas's service, as if he was cheating, and won the victory on a continuous high difficulty. Finally, he broke the serve for the first time at the second break point and inventory, and won the set 6:4; in the fourth set, Alcalas further improved his form under the inspiration of Sheldon, and finally broke the serve with the only successful break at the beginning of the set, winning the game with a score of 6:4.

What is even more commendable is that a dramatic scene occurred in the first game of the second set. When the referee misjudged Alcalas's flying slap scored in the serve (40:30), Alcalas immediately waved his hand and signaled, proactively admitted to the illegal hitting, and awarded the point to Sheldon (30:40). In this way, the score changed from a game point in Alcalas to a break point for Sheldon. Such an honest and fair Alcalas, who demonstrates the spirit of an athlete, is admirable and has left a good story.

At 2:30 tomorrow morning, Paul, the 12th-ranked world leader and the real-time world ranking, once again launched a strong impact on defending champion Alcalas after his compatriot Sheldon.

Born in May 1997, Paul won the French Open Youth Championship in 2015 and transferred to the professional tennis world in the same year. After ten years of advancing the ATP Tour, Paul has been playing steadily and has been rising steadily. He won his first career championship in 2021 (AP250 Stockholm Station); in 2022 he entered the Wimbledon Top 16, the Canadian Rogers Cup and the Paris Masters quarterfinals; in 2023, he entered the Australian Open semi-finals, the US Open semi-finals, and the Canadian Rogers Cup and the Canadian Rogers Cup. He ranked 13th in the world at the end of the year, far higher than the 32nd place at the beginning of the year.

In 2024, Paul went further and won the three championships (ATP250 Dallas and Stockholm Station, ATP500 London Queen's Cup), ranking 12th in the world at the end of the year. The Grand Slams entered the third round (Australia Open and French Open), the top 16 (US Open), and the top 8 (Wimbledon); the top 4 (Indian Wells and Rome).

After entering the quarterfinals again at the Australian Open in 2025, Paul hit a ninth career high in his world rankings on January 27, ranking in the top ten immortals in the world for the first time. Entering the clay season, Paul lost to the British handsome guy Draper in the fourth round of the Madrid Masters, and was reversed by Italian rookie Sina in the semi-finals of the Rome Masters. Although Paul still missed the first Masters final in his career, he also showed good competitive state, which could not hide his ambitions for the 2025 French Open.

At the 2025 French Open, Paul's condition was fluctuating in the second and third rounds, and he fought for two consecutive five sets to get through these two rounds. However, in the 1/8 final, Paul was in good shape and performed well. He defeated Australia's only active master Popelin with three 6:3 points. He entered the French Open quarter-finals for the first time in his career, sharpening his sword and challenging the defending champion Alcalas.

Serbian king Djokovic commented on Paul: "It is very explosive and energetic. He likes to step into the court to dominate every point with forehand attack. The backhand is solid and the serving is excellent." Alcaras, who has faced four wins and two losses in his career, and is quite familiar with Paul, said: "Paul has strong comprehensive abilities, has done a good job in all aspects, and is a very comprehensive player. His forward and back beats are good and his movements are excellent. He is one of the best players on the tour, and every game with him will be very difficult."

Interestingly speaking, the American soldier Paul seems to be particularly destined to be a Spanish player and often encounters Spanish players on the tour. In 2022, he lost to Spanish god Nadal at the ATP500 Acapulco. Before losing to Spanish all-round fighter Alcalas in the 2023 Miami Masters 12 consecutive victories across the season in one year, defeating Nadal, Alcalas, Agut, Busta, Forkina and others, becoming the biggest victim of Spanish players.

Alcalas and Paul have faced six careers. Although Paul had defeated Alcalas in the Canadian Rogers Cup Masters for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023, he had also lost to Alcalas four times and is currently in a three-game losing streak. Especially in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics last year, the two had the most recent career encounter, Alcalas defeated Paul in two sets 6:3 7:6 at the Tennis Park of Roland Garros in Paris. Nearly a year later, in the quarter-finals of the 2025 French Open, Alcalas and Paul have had their seventh career encounter in their careers. Who will win? Let's wait for tomorrow morning to see.