Tommy Paul instantly recognized he was in massive trouble during his recent fourth-round matchup at the US Open. Carlos Alcaraz found his aggressive rhythm early before completely dominating almost every single point against his overwhelmed American challenger. The Spanish superstar officially booked his place in the quarterfinals following a decisive 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 straight-sets victory on Sunday. This crushing defeat left the American competitor struggling to process his clear inferiority on the court.

Paul candidly addressed this massive discrepancy in talent during his post-match press conference.

“Uh, I don’t know. I mean, I feel like he was playing very fast, hitting well. I mean, it felt like he kind of just like outplayed me, was playing on a different level than me,” Paul admitted. “I think there were a lot of things I could have done better, but I could have done a lot of things better and still lost that match.”

That gap in level was what bothered Paul most. He wasn’t suggesting that beating Alcaraz was impossible. Rather, he felt that playing a little better simply wouldn’t have been enough on the day.

“Yeah, I mean, I think I’m not saying that like I couldn’t play unbelievably and beat him. I’m just saying like the way the gap in our levels today was huge. It’s like a terrible feeling when you’re playing,” Paul said. “I’d have to really bring my level up a ton and play the match more on my terms to win that.”

That is the uncomfortable reality of facing Alcaraz right now. Against him, a few loose points can quickly become a lost game, and a quiet spell can turn into an entire set slipping away.

Paul has experienced that evolution firsthand. The two have played nine times now, with Alcaraz leading their rivalry 7-2. And while Paul has managed to beat him before, the American believes the player standing across the net today is a very different challenge.

“You’ve played Carlos a lot over a range of years at this point,” he was told after the match. “Yeah, it’s getting worse,” Paul replied with a laugh.

The joke carried plenty of truth. Paul explained that several tactics that worked against a younger Alcaraz no longer have the same effect. A crosscourt backhand slice, for example, used to draw a predictable response. Now, Alcaraz can simply move around it and unleash a forehand.

That was something Paul and his team had discussed before the match. The slice had to be extremely low and wide, because anything less than a perfect execution could give Alcaraz the opening he wanted.

His return has improved and so has his second serve. Paul believes Alcaraz now varies that serve far more effectively, making it harder to attack and adding another problem to an already difficult puzzle.

And perhaps the simplest description came when Paul explained what it feels like when Alcaraz is at his best: “He completely overwhelmed me. I’d describe it like this: he suffocates you, somehow. He makes you feel like you don’t have time. He rushes you. He did whatever he wanted.”

According to Paul, Alcaraz has improved pretty much in every aspect of his game.

Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open run now has another American waiting

The numbers back up the feeling. Alcaraz has now won 18 straight matches at Grand Slam tournaments, his longest major winning streak. He has also reached the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth time and the last eight at a Grand Slam for the 15th time.

Against Paul, there was little sign of rust. The two stayed close early, but once Alcaraz broke to take the opening set, the match began moving in one direction. He finished with 33 winners compared to Paul’s 18 and needed just two hours and 20 minutes to close it out.

“I played my game. I tried to play my style,” Alcaraz said. “Tommy is such a talented player. His shots are pretty dangerous and sometimes it is really difficult to control the ball when it comes to you. I just tried to be ready for a battle and tried to be aggressive all the time.”

The victory also extended Alcaraz’s remarkable US Open record. He is now 28-3 in New York, giving him a 93 percent winning rate at the tournament in the Open Era.

And despite missing more than four months, Alcaraz believes he is already feeling like himself again…

“It doesn’t matter that I was out for four and a half months. Every time that I come here, I play my best,” he said.

His next opponent will be another American. Ben Shelton defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against Alcaraz. The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 3-0 and is 13-0 against American opponents at Grand Slam tournaments.

Interestingly, Alcaraz didn’t even know Shelton had advanced. When Andy Roddick told him during an ESPN interview that he would face either Shelton or Tsitsipas, Alcaraz looked genuinely stunned.

“Oh my God,” he said, before admitting he had thought he was playing Daniil Medvedev or Frances Tiafoe.

Roddick could only laugh. Alcaraz, meanwhile, promised to watch the match and prepare.

Shelton will arrive with plenty of confidence. But after what Paul experienced, the American will know exactly what awaits him: against Alcaraz, every ball has to be played with quality. Anything less can make the court feel very, very small.