American Hopes Crumble As Tiafoe And Paul Exit Roland Garros

The dream of an all-American men’s semifinal at Roland Garros fizzled out on Tuesday, as both Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul fell in decisive defeats.

In the night session, Paul struggled to keep pace with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who was simply unstoppable on his quest for a second straight French Open title. Earlier, Tiafoe’s historic run ended at the hands of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.

Alcaraz wasted no time dismantling Paul, steamrolling through the first two sets 6-0, 6-1 in just 52 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The Spaniard has been in blistering form all tournament, with Paul—a 12th seed—never looking likely to challenge him.

The 22-year-old Alcaraz dropped just one game in those opening sets, but Paul showed some fight in the third, fending off five break points before holding serve to take the first game. Yet Alcaraz shifted into another gear, putting Paul away in just 94 minutes. The Spaniard broke serve six times and fired 40 winners in what was one of his most dominant Grand Slam wins yet.

Alcaraz now faces Musetti in the semifinals on Friday.

Tiafoe’s Quarterfinal Dream Ends with Musetti

Earlier in the day, Tiafoe’s own Roland Garros dream was dashed by the in-form Musetti, who triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. The 23-year-old Italian advanced to his second career Grand Slam semifinal, having also reached the last four at Wimbledon last year.

Both Tiafoe and Musetti were enjoying their best-ever runs at Roland Garros, but it was Musetti who seized the early momentum, breaking Tiafoe twice to claim the first set in just 37 minutes.

Tiafoe, ranked 16th in the world, responded with a break in the third game of the second set and leveled the match. But that would be his only break of serve in what proved to be a challenging afternoon.

A strange moment unfolded in the second set when Musetti accidentally hit a line judge with a kicked ball. The Italian received only a warning—something Tiafoe called “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.”

Musetti edged a tight third set and secured an early break in the fourth, racing toward victory. He closed the match on his third match point as Tiafoe dumped a forehand into the net.

The match lasted two hours and 47 minutes—yet another highlight in what’s been a superb clay-court season for Musetti, who recently reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the semifinals of the Madrid and Italian Opens. That run has seen him climb from 16th to seventh in the rankings.

Despite the defeat, Tiafoe can take heart from his best-ever French Open showing. The 27-year-old reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set, becoming the first American man to do so at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

However, Tiafoe struggled in the quarterfinals, finishing with 51 unforced errors compared to Musetti’s 45 winners. Musetti also won an impressive 81% of his first-serve points.

If Musetti is to reach his first Grand Slam final, he’ll likely have to get past a red-hot Alcaraz—who’s already beaten him twice on clay this season.