Clinical Carlos Alcaraz moved a step closer to making more tennis history after cruising into the US Open quarter-finals.
The Spaniard, still showing no signs of the wrist injury that sidelined him for more than four months before the tournament, dismantled American Tommy Paul in straight sets.
Alcaraz is already the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam and should he go on to win back-to-back Flushing Meadows crowns, he would become the only man in the Open Era to successfully defend major titles on all three surfaces.
Having won on the grass of Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024 and on the French Open clay in 2024 and last year, the 23-year-old can complete the set on hard courts if he triumphs on Sunday.
Paul, the 20th seed, had talked up his chances before the match, saying "I like to think of myself as somebody who always thinks I can beat those [top] players".
But a 6-4 6-3 6-4 defeat means Alcaraz has now beaten the 29-year-old six times in a row, winning the last 14 sets they have contested.
He actually faced two set points at the end of the third, but swatted them away with two contemptuous forehand winners on his way to victory in two hours and 21 minutes.
"I played my game. I tried to put my style on today's match," said Alcaraz.
"Tommy is such a talented player and his shots are dangerous and hard to control, so I just tried to be ready for the battle, ready to run if it mattered.
"I tried to be aggressive all the time and tried not to let him stay on the court. I put so much pressure on the return game. It helped a lot to play relaxed, calm and to think clearly.
"I'm really happy with the performance today. Am I back to full power? I think so. I play well every time I come here, and I just try to enjoy it.
"It doesn't matter I was out for four-and-a-half months; every time I come here I play my best."
Your Site Tennis' Tim Henman:
"It's a pleasure to watch Alcaraz go through the gears. He's just got better and better as this tournament has gone on.
"Tommy Paul gave it everything he had but, at the end of the day, Alcaraz was different class.
"The forehand was firing. I've seen plenty of good forehands over the years, but I think Alcaraz's might be the best. It's unbelievable how he hits it so hard and doesn't look like missing."
Your Site Tennis' Martina Navratilova:
"It's really crazy he got this good this fast. Normally, when people have that many options to their game, it takes a while to figure out how to play the game. But not Carlos, he's just in another stratosphere."
Aryna Sabalenka clung onto her US Open title and the world No 1 spot after an unconvincing win over Taylor Townsend.
The Belarusian battled through 6-4 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium in a bizarre match which featured 11 breaks of serve from 19 games.
Sabalenka has spent 99 weeks at the top of the rankings but she needs to win a third straight Flushing Meadows title - and for current No 2 Elena Rybakina to lose before the semi-finals - if she is to reach a century.
"It's super challenging but once again it's important to focus on yourself," said Sabalenka, who had to come from a breakdown in the second set against popular American Townsend.
"I was like 'okay, you are down the break, just try to return the serve and put as much pressure on her as possible'.
"I was just trying to stay focused on myself, not only point by point but ball by ball. I'm happy I was able to turn around the second set, I think it was a key moment."
In the quarter-finals Sabalenka will play Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, after the Czech came through a titanic battle against Marta Kostyuk in a repeat of their semi-final at SW19.
Ukrainian Kostyuk saved five match points, two at the end of the second set and three in the decider, before Noskova eventually got over the line 7-5 5-7 6-4.
Your Site Tennis' Martina Navratilova:
"It was good enough. It was pretty solid. Townsend had more winners but Aryna did really well returning serve and with passing shots.
"Townsend tried to come into the net more, but she wasn't successful there, that's how well Sabalenka played from the baseline.
"Overall, I would give Sabalenka a 'B' because she lost her serve so many times, but she played really well when it mattered."
Your Site Tennis' Annabel Croft:
"There was a lot of ferocious intensity to what Sabalenka brought onto this court. When she went a break down in the second set, she really galvanised herself. When she got back on track, she let out the most enormous shriek and you just knew she meant business.
"The passion, the aura, the mentality, the personality, she brings so much to every court. She's a great showwoman and puts on a show whenever she plays tennis. She understands this isn't just sport, it's entertainment as well.
"She is going to take some beating. She doesn't look as vulnerable as I was expecting. So far, she hasn't dropped a set and looks in very good shape."
Ben Shelton's run to the quarter-finals dealt a blow to tennis traditionalists after his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas left the men's draw without a one-handed backhand and ended a 149-year Grand Slam streak.
The elegant stroke has steadily yielded ground to the two-handed shot in the modern power game and at least one practitioner had reached the men's singles semi-final at a major each year since Wimbledon in 1877 until the streak ended in New York.
Shelton also accounted for Denis Shapovalov, a left-handed exponent of the one-handed backhand, in the third round before downing Tsitsipas in the last 16.
"I took a look, in the 1950s I think 97 per cent or 98 per cent of players were playing one-handed backhands," Tsitsipas said after his 6-2 6-3 6-4 defeat. "It's literally like two per cent or three per cent now."
Frances Tiafoe dispatched 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 7-6 (7-6) to reach the quarter-finals. He will meet fellow American Alex Michelsen, who beat Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 earlier in the day.
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