Alcaraz Hasn't Lost in New York in a Decade. Today He Plays the One Guy the Whole Stadium Wants to Beat Him.

Carlos Alcaraz hadn't played a competitive match since April when this US Open started. Three rounds later, he's lost exactly zero sets — and he's carrying a streak into Arthur Ashe Stadium today that most of the sport can only watch from the outside.

Alcaraz enters his fourth-round match on a run of 17 consecutive Grand Slam match wins, including 10 straight in New York, where he beat rival Jannik Sinner in last year's final. "I'm better than I thought," Alcaraz said of his form coming back from the layoff.

Standing across the net is Tommy Paul, the hometown favorite trying to become the first active American man to reach the quarterfinals of every Grand Slam. Alcaraz already holds a 6-2 head-to-head edge and has won the last five meetings between them — but he's not treating the crowd as a non-factor. "Obviously he's gonna play at home, it's gonna be an advantage for him," Alcaraz said. "Hopefully he's gonna be tired a little bit from today's match," he added, referencing Paul's grueling five-set comeback in the previous round.

Alcaraz's tennis hasn't been the only story of his tournament. After skipping an undershirt in his first two rounds — and getting good-natured ribbing from players like Genie Bouchard to "put it away" — he showed up to the third round in an undershirt and joked about it afterward: "I think I've been seeing too much of my nipples lately. I felt like I could hide it at least for one match." He then peeled off both shirts celebrating his win anyway, to the delight of a crowd that had very much been paying attention.

A win keeps the streak alive and the title defense on track. A loss would hand Paul the biggest win of his career, on his own turf, in front of a crowd that's been rooting against Alcaraz all week for reasons that have nothing to do with tennis.