Alcaraz Extends Grand Slam Win Streak to 17, Books Fourth-Round Date With Tommy Paul

Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the 2026 US Open on Friday, defeating Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 19 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium, according to the tournament's official recap. The win stretched the defending champion's personal-best Grand Slam match win streak to 17 and lifted his career record at Flushing Meadows to 27-3, a .900 winning percentage that the US Open said is the best in the Open Era, ahead of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The result carried extra weight because it came in Alcaraz's first Grand Slam appearance since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open in April with a wrist injury that kept him off tour for roughly four and a half months. The second seed broke Wu's serve to open the match and finished the contest converting seven of 15 break-point chances, methodically wearing down an opponent who was trying to become the first Chinese man to reach the round of 16 at a major in the Open Era.

"I'm better than I thought, physically," Alcaraz said. "I thought I was going to be dead after the first match. But I'm recovering very well. Right now, my level is very good. I get the rhythm of the competition every time I step on the court."

Wu, now No. 98 in the ATP Tour's live rankings after climbing back from outside the top 400 last year, produced 12 winners against 40 unforced errors as his early resistance faded in the third set. Alcaraz, according to an ATP Tour match report, credited the difficulty of returning Wu's flat, skidding groundstrokes even in defeat, calling his opponent's shotmaking "unbelievable." Friday's meeting was the pair's second; Alcaraz also beat Wu in the second round of the Shanghai Masters in 2024.

Wu, 26, made his US Open main-draw debut in 2022 and swept the boys' singles and doubles titles at the tournament in 2017, a sign of the promise that injuries have since interrupted. His run to the third round this year came after wins over Adam Walton and James Duckworth, and the ATP feature on his comeback season noted he has already played 21 events in 2026, far more than his typical injury-shortened schedules, describing the grind of a recent stretch by saying, "three months in Europe...I played almost every week."

Alcaraz next faces 20th seed Tommy Paul, who outlasted Alexander Bublik in five sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-3, in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Alcaraz leads that series 6-2, including a straight-sets win over the American in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year. A win in the round of 16 would move Alcaraz another step toward defending the title he has held since beating Jannik Sinner in last year's final, part of a tournament field competing for a record $108 million in total player compensation, the largest purse in tennis history.

The men's draw continues to thin as the second week approaches, with Saturday's slate at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center set to include further fourth-round matches, according to Alcaraz's official US Open player profile. Alcaraz's physical recovery has been closely watched since his spring layoff, and organizers have flagged his workload through three rounds as a key storyline heading into the second week, when the tournament moves toward the quarterfinals and, ultimately, the men's semifinals.

For Wu, the defeat ends a run in which he had already matched one of his better prior US Open showings, capping what both the ATP and his own team have described as his busiest and most physically demanding season since his breakthrough title in Dallas three years ago, when he became the first Chinese man to win an ATP Tour singles title. He is expected to continue building ranking points through the North American hard-court swing into the fall.