French Open: Carlos Alcaraz beats a hurting Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 to return to the semifinals

PARIS (AP) — It's tough enough for any player to deal with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open. When you're not at your absolute best against the defending champion, as was the case for Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals Tuesday night, there's no chance.

No. 2 seed Alcaraz returned to the semifinals at Roland-Garros for the third consecutive year with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 12 Paul, who had his right thigh heavily taped and was unable to run, serve or hit groundstrokes at full force.

“I’ve felt better, you know?” said Paul, who had leg and abdominal muscle issues during the tournament. “Obviously, I went into the match like, ‘I want to win the match.’ But pretty early on in the match, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t moving amazing.”

Didn't help his cause that Alcaraz was at his very best.

“Today was one of those days that you're feeling great. You feel like every shot was going to be in, every shot was going to be a winner,” Alcaraz said. “You play with a lot of confidence. No fear of anything.”

It took just 52 minutes for him to collect the first two sets.

The 22-year-old Spaniard compiled a 23-5 edge in winners in that span, and the final totals were 40-13.

“He played some great tennis. Returned very well. Had me on my back foot all the time. Playing so fast,” Paul said. “Even on the changeovers, I felt like he was getting up with 20 seconds left. I was like, ‘You got to slow down.’”

Things got more competitive in the third set, which Paul led 4-3 as some spectators at Court Philippe-Chatrier chanted his first name. But Alcaraz grabbed the next three games to wrap things up after a little more than 1 1/2 hours.

“At Grand Slams, the less time you spend on court, it's great to save energy for the next matches,” said Alcaraz, who is seeking his fifth major trophy. “Can’t ask for a better performance.”

He is the first reigning men's champion in Paris to get back to the semifinals the next year since 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in 2021.

He improved to 20-1 on red clay this season and leads the men's tour with 35 wins and three titles.

Alcaraz's opponent in the semifinals will be No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who eliminated No. 15 Frances Tiafoe in four sets earlier Tuesday. The last two men's quarterfinals are Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. unseeded Alexander Bublik, and No. 3 Alexander Zverev vs. 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic.

Paul, a semifinalist at the 2023 Australian Open, and Tiafoe, a two-time semifinalist at the U.S. Open, were the first American men to get to the round of eight at Roland-Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003 — and the first pair to do so in the same year since Jim Courier and Pete Sampras in 1996.

Since Agassi completed his career Grand Slam by winning the French Open in 1999, U.S. men are now 1-60 against opponents ranked in the top 10 at the clay-court tournament.

Tommy Paul of the U.S. plays a shot against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz plays a shot against Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Tommy Paul of the U.S. plays a shot against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz smiles as he plays against Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Management and union leaders at Samsung Electronics failed to reach a last-minute deal over wages Wednesday, raising prospects for a strike at the South Korean electronics giant that could rattle global semiconductor supplies and the country’s trade-dependent economy.

Government officials have threatened to invoke rarely used emergency powers to force a settlement at Samsung, where the union, which represents more than 70,000 workers, says the company has failed to offer adequate compensation despite its soaring profits fueled by the global boom in artificial intelligence.

After the latest round of talks ended without a breakthrough on Wednesday, union leader Choi Seung-ho told reporters that unionized workers will begin an 18-day strike from Thursday.

Both the union and the management held each other responsible for a failure to reach a deal. Choi accused management of refusing to accept a government-mediated proposal whose details he refused to disclose. The management accused the union of calling for excessive compensation packages for workers at loss-making units.

The two sides said they will continue efforts to reach a deal. The two sides met again Wednesday afternoon at the arrangement of Labor Minister Kim Younghoon, according to Kim’s ministry.

Samsung and its cross-town rival, SK Hynix, together produce about two-thirds of the world’s memory chips, which are seeing surging demand driven by AI. Samsung said last month its operating profit for the January-March quarter jumped eightfold to a record 57.2 trillion won ($38 billion).

Union leaders have demanded a compensation structure in which Samsung would commit to spend 15% of its annual operating profit on employee bonuses and scrap bonus caps, which are currently set at 50% of annual salaries. The company says the demands are excessive, citing the highly cyclical nature of the semiconductor business.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, the government’s No. 2 official after President Lee Jae Myung, said in a televised statement Sunday that the strike could cause up to 100 trillion won ($66 billion) in economic damage by disrupting Samsung’s highly complex semiconductor manufacturing processes.

The planned strike also has a potential global impact. Given that supply in the global memory semiconductor market is struggling to keep up with demand, the Samsung strike was expected to further drive up prices and push back AI infrastructure investments in other countries, said Lee Jun, an expert at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

The strike was expected to hurt operations of Samsung’s production of smartphones and other consumer electronics as well, observers say.

A local court on Monday partially granted the company’s request for an injunction against the planned strike, ruling that the union must maintain certain staffing levels to prevent damage to facilities and materials and ensure safe operations. The Suwon District Court also barred unionists from occupying key facilities and offices.

The logo of the Samsung Electronics Co. is seen at its office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The logo of the Samsung Electronics Co. is seen at its office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Choi Seung-ho, a leader of the Samsung Electronics labor union, leaves after attending the government-led mediation talks with management at the National Labor Relations Commission office in Sejong, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026 (Yonhap via AP)