Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, gaining confidence with every match, cruised into the US Open quarter-finals on Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Tommy Paul. 

The second-seeded Spaniard, playing his first tournament after a four-month absence with a right wrist injury, beat Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his fifth quarter-final at Flushing Meadows — where he won the first of his seven Grand Slam titles back in 2022. “Really happy to see where my level is right now,” Alcaraz said.