The American dream of an all-US men’s semifinal is snuffed out in Paris as Tiafoe and Paul go down at Roland Garros

By George Ramsay and Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — The dream of an all-American men’s semifinal at Roland Garros went down in relatively tame fashion on Tuesday as Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul were bounced out of the tournament in decisive fashion.

Paul, who entered his quarterfinal match attempting to shake off injuries, was no match for world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the nightcap as the Spanish wunderkid looked absolutely dominant as he seeks his second straight championship on the famed clay. Earlier in the day, Tiafoe’s hopes of reaching his first semifinal at Roland Garros came to an end against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on Tuesday.

Alcaraz cut through Paul easily in the opening sets, winning 6-0 and 6-1 in just 52 minutes to start the match. The Spaniard has been in imperious form throughout the tournament, with the 12th-seeded American as the heavy underdog coming into the night match on Court Philippe-Chartier.

The 22-year-old Alcaraz dropped just the one game in the first two sets, but Paul began the third set with a bit more fight. After fighting off five break points, Paul held serve against Alcaraz to take the first game of the third set.

The American was clearly limited as the match wore on but refused to go quietly, pushing Alcaraz as much as he had all match. In the final two games of the third set, though, Alcaraz ramped up his game another level to put Paul away.

The match lasted just 94 minutes, one of the quickest wins of the Spaniard’s career. He broke Paul’s serve six times and hit 40 winners.

Alcaraz now faces Musetti in the semifinals on Friday.

Tiafoe falls to in-form Lorenzo Musetti

Musetti triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier to reach the final four of a grand slam for the second time in his career, having also done so at last year’s Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old will now face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or American 12-seed Tommy Paul in Friday’s semifinals.

Both Tiafoe and Musetti were enjoying their best-ever runs at the French Open heading into their quarterfinal, and it was the latter who took an early advantage by breaking Tiafoe twice and wrapping up the opening set in 37 minutes.

The world No. 16 responded with a break in the third game of the second set before going on to level the match, but that proved to be Tiafoe’s only break of serve on a challenging afternoon in Paris.

Musetti kicked a ball during that second set, and it inadvertently hit a line judge. He was not punished for the incident, only warned, something Tiafoe referred to as “comical” after the match.

“Obviously, he did that and nothing happened,” Tiafoe told reporters. “I think that’s comical, but it is what it is. Nothing happened, so there’s nothing really to talk about. Obviously, it’s not consistent so it is what it is.”

Musetti edged a narrow third set and claimed an early break in the fourth. He raced to victory from there, winning the third of three match points when Tiafoe put a simple forehand into the net.

The two-hour, 47-minute victory is the latest milestone in a superb clay-court season for Musetti, having recently reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the semifinals of the Madrid Open and Italian Open.

That run has seen him rise from 16th up to seventh in the world rankings, and a fourth consecutive semifinal appearance now awaits.

Despite the loss, Tiafoe will take confidence from his performances at this year’s French Open. Having never previously reached beyond the second round, he breezed through his first four matches without dropping a set. Alongside Paul, the 27-year-old was the first American man to reach the final eight at Roland-Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

But Tiafoe was below his best in the quarterfinals, ending the match on 51 unforced errors. By contrast, Musetti hit 45 winners to Tiafoe’s 33 and won an impressive 81% of his points on first serve.

Should he reach a first grand slam final at this year’s French Open, then Musetti may well have to get past a dominant Alcaraz in the next round – a player who has already beaten him twice on clay this season.

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