Tommy Paul is into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the fourth time in his career, and for the first time at Roland Garros.
The American cruised past Alexei Popyrin in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to book his place in the last eight.
Paul put an end to a 22-year dry spell of American men failing to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open, becoming the first to do so since Andre Agassi in 2003.
Over the clay season, the 28-year-old has been in impressive form, having made the semi-finals of the Italian Open where he met Jannik Sinner, who ultimately emerged victorious.
His next opponent is the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who Paul suggested he has been preparing for since last summer.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesTommy Paul says he has some ‘good new ideas’ on playing Carlos Alcaraz
After his triumph over Popyrin, Paul said on Alcaraz: “We actually played here not even a year ago at the Olympics.
“I feel like I played a decent match. I know a lot of things that I could have done better, and I had a couple of set points, I think, in the second set.
“I ended up losing in straights. Obviously, the guy can play amazing tennis here, defending champion and everything.
“But I think we would go into the match with some good new ideas,” said the world number 12.
Tommy Paul’s record against Carlos Alcaraz ahead of their Roland Garros clash
The quarter-final clash between Alcaraz and Paul marks their second meeting on clay, with their first bout on the dirt coming at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 4-2, and has won each of their last three meetings, one of which was the quarter-final of Wimbledon last year.
Paul’s two victories both came at the Canada Open, winning in their first career match in 2022 and again in 2023.
They will now face off at a Grand Slam for a second time, with a place in the semi-final of Roland Garros up for grabs.