Tommy Paul offers zero excuses after on the receiving end of another defeat to World No.1: "He gave me a real ass-whooping there too"

Tommy Paul had no excuses in his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz after he was outplayed with some severe weaknesses to his game on the day exposed. His Australian Open ends in the last-16 after he lost 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5.

He was able to push him a lot of the match, even taking a 3-1 lead in the early stages but was not able to prevent Alcaraz from clawing his way back into the match. Crucial breaks in the second and third set were enough to kill Paul off. While it was a very solid effort, from the 28-year-old, he acknowledged that he was not at the races for parts of it.

"I actually think I started better than he did," he stated in his press conference. "But at 4–3 in the first set, when I got broken, I didn’t make a single first serve in that game. When I needed first serves, I didn’t come up with them. After that, I felt like he took control of the match. There might have been some opportunities for me early on, but after the first set, I didn’t really see many of them. He closed the gap pretty quickly."

There was a moment in that first set tiebreak where proceedings were paused to prioritise a struggling fans in the stands. This did not affect Paul, but he was not totally clear on the situation. "I’m not really sure. There was a moment where someone in the crowd had been struggling, but then they came to us and said everything was fine and they were okay in their seat," he explained. "So we just returned to play, got back to his serves, and it didn’t really affect anything. I hope the person is okay. But yeah, I mean, he just played better than me in all three sets, really."

In their prior meetings, Paul has felt that the result could have been different due to differing factors. Today, there was not really much the American could do. "I definitely don’t have an excuse this time," he admitted. "He totally outplayed me. The way I’d describe it is that he kind of suffocates you. He makes you feel like you have no time, like he rushes you."

His forehand was nowhere near the standard it should have been at, costing him dearly on court. "Today he exposed my forehand, honestly. I hit my forehand terribly, and he saw that early. He tried to get into forehand-to-forehand rallies, and he did it much better than I did. It felt like he got all the patterns he wanted, and I had a really tough time getting into the patterns I wanted."

There have also been a lot of talk on the Alcaraz serve, with it being seen very similar to the one of 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Whatever the serve was though, Paul was going to be in for a tricky task. "I honestly didn’t pay too much attention to it," he cleared up. "It didn’t feel any different than the last time we played. I think the last time was the French Open, and he gave me a real ass-whooping there too."

After not stepping on the court in an ATP tournament since the US Open, Paul was raring to go in Australia as he looked to fine his old form showcased this time last year as he climbed the rankings. It was a disappointing start, losing to Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard in three sets in the Brisbane International before a much better run in the Adelaide International saw him go down to eventual champion Tomas Machac.

A very solid Australian Open campaign saw him not drop a set in the opening three rounds, but Alcaraz in the round-16 was always going to be an uphill task, and sure enough that is the end to his Australian swing for 2026. While not being where he wants to be, Paul feels like he is heading in the right direction.

"Obviously, getting back into the top ten is where I feel like I belong, so I’ve got some work to do there," Paul stated. "I fell back in the rankings a bit. But overall, I’m leaving Australia pretty happy with where my body is at and where my game is at, especially after not playing for a while. I feel like I jumped back into it pretty quickly, so overall I’m leaving happy."

A consolation for Paul against Alcaraz is that he was able to play some incredible shots and points, common in a match featuring the Spaniard. "Honestly, that’s the easiest part about playing him," he commented. "You know you’re going to have fun points. When we play those rallies and the crowd loves it, we love it too. You know there are going to be highlight points. I wish we had more of them today, to be honest. For me, that usually means I’m making shots and being a shot-maker. Obviously, we all know he can do that too. That’s the fun part about playing Carlos."

In the end, he just was not able to cope with the relentless firepower of the six time Grand Slam champion, who marches on while Paul exits. "Today, his forehand cross was devastating for me. Honestly, it really hurt me. I also double-faulted on set point down, missed a backhand, and then made errors in longer rallies. Just too many errors from my side. He had way fewer errors, and it felt like he raised his energy on the big points, while my energy dropped. That’s what the best players do every match. He came up with the goods when I didn’t," he concluded.