MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — No sooner had Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals with a win over Tommy Paul, than attention turned to his serve.
The top-ranked Alcaraz, in Australia trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the age of 22, has been remodeling it a little bit.
Click to Gallery
Tommy Paul of the U.S. plays a backhand return to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz, right, of Spain is congratulated by Tommy Paul, left, of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain plays a forehand return to Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain kicks the ball during his fourth round match against Tommy Paul of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
It worked well for him on Sunday in a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 19-seeded Paul. There were no double-faults, he got 70% of his first serves into play and won 79% of those points. He also won 68% of points on his second serve.
The retooled start of his service motion has a familiar look, and hasn't escaped the attention of Novak Djokovic. The 24-time major winner joked earlier in the tournament that he'd sent Alcaraz a message asking for a copyright fee.
Alcaraz was asked about it in an on-court TV interview on Rod Laver Arena, and played along, too.
“Yeah. I heard that. I have the contract over there, but I haven’t seen him yet!” the Spaniard said of his exchange with Djokovic.
Expanding on the theme, he said when videos of the service motion emerged in the pre-season he checked on his phone and had a message from Djokovic which, more or less, said: “Alright, you have to pay!”
Alcaraz said the locker room jokes keep it fun. Seeking an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title, Djokovic has been blocked in the last two years by Alacaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have split the eight titles evenly. The 38-year-old Djokovic got a walkover into the quarterfinals when Jakub Mensik withdrew from their fourth-round match because of injury.
One missing element on Alcaraz's tennis CV is a trophy at Melbourne Park. He has never gone past the quarterfinals. He'll also likely have the crowd against him against local favorite Alex de Minaur, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 10 Alexander Bublik.
“I understand, nothing personal, but the crowd is going to be for him,” Alcaraz said. “Looking forward to it. I’ve got to be ready for that.”
Paul reached the Australian Open semifinals in 2023, so had that in his favor going into the fourth-round match with Alcaraz.
The pair were going shot-for-shot in the first-set tiebreaker when a medical episode paused their match for more than 14 minutes.
It was 3-3 when chair umpire Marija Cicak informed them that a spectator at Rod Laver Arena needed urgent medical attention.
The delay lasted so long that the players got to hit up again for a couple of minutes before play resumed, and after the spectator had been helped away from the arena by medical and ambulance staff.
Alcaraz was always in front after that. He broke serve in the pivotal 10th game of the third set and finished off the match in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
The pair hugged at the net, Alcaraz did a little dance move on the court to entertain the crowd, and then applauded the 28-year-old American as he walked off the court.
“Overall, a really high level of tennis from both sides,” Alcaraz said. “Really happy I got it in straight sets.”
Alcaraz said he was aware of his service stats and, in a kind of humble brag, added “Yeah, it’s impressing myself to be honest” across his first four matches at Melbourne Park.
“After every set I try to check it out – checking on the screens,” he said. “In general, I think the four matches that I've played (here), the serve has been an important weapon for me.”
Tommy Paul of the U.S. plays a backhand return to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz, right, of Spain is congratulated by Tommy Paul, left, of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain plays a forehand return to Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Tommy Paul of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain kicks the ball during his fourth round match against Tommy Paul of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Voting was held Sunday in Myanmar in the final round of a three-stage general election, capping a nearly monthlong process that has already ensured the country’s military rulers and their allies will command a parliamentary majority to form a new government.
Critics say the polls were neither free nor fair, and were designed to legitimize the power of the military after it ousted the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, or USDP, had already won most of the seats contested in the first two rounds of voting. Twenty-five percent of the seats in the upper and lower houses of the national Parliament are reserved for the military, guaranteeing it and its allies control of the legislature.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who heads the current military government, is widely expected by both supporters and opponents to assume the presidency when the new Parliament meets.
The army's 2021 takeover triggered widespread opposition that dragged Myanmar into a civil war. Security concerns engendered by the fighting meant voting was not held in more than one-fifth of the country’s 330 townships, another reason the process was described as neither free nor fair.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan on Tuesday said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, did not send observers and would not certify the election, citing concerns over the lack of inclusive and free participation.
Min Aung Hlaing pushed back against critics of the polls on Sunday, declaring that “the people who live in Myanmar are the ones who vote. Not those from outside."
“We are not concerned whether this is recognized by foreign countries or not. We recognize the people’s vote. It should be like that,” he told journalists after inspecting a polling station in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
Asked if he intended to take part in the new government, he declined to comment, noting the president would be selected when Parliament meets.
Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, and her party did not participate in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won landslide victories in the 2020 and 2015 elections, but was forced to dissolve in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.
Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, while opposition groups called for a voter boycott.
A new Election Protection Law imposed harsh penalties for most public criticism of the polls, with the authorities charging more than 400 people recently for activities such as leafleting or online activity.
Voting began on Sunday at 6 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. in 61 townships across six regions and three states, including many areas that have seen clashes in recent months.
At the polling station in Dagon township in Yangon, the country’s largest city, 86-year-old Soe Tint said he cast his ballot because he wants the country to be peaceful and develop “in all sectors, including education.”
At the same station, Lae Lae Yi, 62, was less hopeful.
“I’m not expecting anything at all, because there is no motivation,” she said.
Fighting was reported in at least one township holding polls, with five people injured on Sunday, independent online media, including the Irrawaddy, reported.
The previous two rounds of voting were disrupted by armed groups opposed to military rule carrying out attacks on polling stations and government buildings in several townships, killing at least two administrative officials, according to the military government.
The election was held in three phases due to the armed conflict. The first two rounds took place on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11 in 202 of the country’s 330 townships. A total of 67 townships — mostly areas controlled by armed opposing groups — did not participate, reducing the original seats in the 664-member national parliament to 586.
Final results for all parliament seats are expected to be announced later this week. The military government has announced that Parliament will be convened in March, and the new government will take up its duties in April.
The party with a majority in the combined upper and lower houses of Parliament can select the new president, who in turn names a Cabinet and forms a new government.
More than 4,800 candidates from 57 political parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, though only six are contesting nationwide. Seventeen other parties aside from the USDP have won a small number of seats in the legislature, ranging from one to 10.
Ko Ko Gyi, chairman of the People’s Party, which has won a seat in the national parliament, told journalists that checks and balances would be weakened if only a single party dominated the legislature.
“Since the government is chosen solely by parliament here, if a single party comes to dominate the legislature, the political system becomes one in which the winning party dominates the government,” said Ko Ko Gyi after casting a vote.
The military government said there are more than 24 million eligible voters, about 35% fewer than in 2020. The turnout in the first two rounds of voting was between 50% and 60%, it announced.
Peck reported from Bangkok.
Ko Ko Gyi, chairman of the People's Party and leader of Myanmar's 1988 pro-democracy uprising, talks to journalists after casting his ballot at a polling station during the final round of general election Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
Voters line up to cast ballots at a polling station during the final round of general election Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
A official of the Union Election Commission prepares a voting booth at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
An official of the Union Election Commission sets up an electronic voting machine at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
An official of the Union Election Commission announces the open of a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A voter holds up her finger marked with ink indicating she voted at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
