Carlos Alcaraz pinpoints the one area of his game that felt weaker than usual despite beating Tommy Paul in Vienna

Carlos Alcaraz is once again into the Vienna Open semi-finals, having beaten Tommy Paul to secure his spot after just one hour and 50 minutes.

It was billed as an entertaining clash, and did not disappoint even if the record will show a straight-sets victory.

Both players played their part in a spectacle, and we saw a plethora of points that would have been worthy of a tournament-wide highlight reel.

Speaking afterwards, Carlos Alcaraz was asked whether he enjoyed it as much as the fans seemed to.

With a beaming smile plastered across his face, the answer was obvious before he even started to reply.

Carlos Alcaraz outlines the one issue with his game despite winning in Vienna

He began with a brief assessment of the match: ”Well, I think everybody could see the points we played today… great, great rallies, great points, great shots from both of us.”

Alcaraz then continued with huge praise for Tommy Paul, adding: “I’m really happy and I really enjoy this kind of match. On Tommy, to be honest, I think his style, I love the way he plays, and I love watching him play. So when we play against him, it’s always a pleasure.

“So today, yeah, I just hope everybody got to enjoy this match, so did I.”

However, ever the perfectionist, Alcaraz also had one reservation with his performance.

He concluded by admitting: “Obviously really happy with the performance that I did today. It was great tennis. Probably not as confident as yesterday, for example, in terms of feeling the shots from the baseline, but, you know, I would say overall just happy to be in the semi-final, happy that I just found a way and finally got the win in straight sets.”

Alcaraz rated his level after his first win in Vienna. He seems to only be getting better.

Carlos Alcaraz extends dominant winning streak over Tommy Paul

Whilst Alcaraz and Paul often play out some enthralling and hard-fought matches, it’s the Spaniard who almost always emerges victorious.

Today was no different.

Even though the two seemed closely matched going into the showdown, it felt like the American was never really that threatening, despite bringing about five break points. His inability to convert proved pivotal.

Having now lost here in Vienna, Alcaraz has won their last seven matches, with Paul’s last win coming in 2023.

Across that barren run of results, the American has won just two sets.

Paul is now not far away from joining Alcaraz’s most dominant head-to-head records now.