After watching Alcaraz brush aside Tommy Paul in straight sets to reach the last eight in New York, Navratilova reached for a word that a player with 18 Grand Slam singles titles does not use lightly.

“It’s crazy,” Navratilova said. “I didn’t win my first time until I was 21, and he’s already at six at 22.”

The 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over Paul, the No. 20 seed, was clinical enough that the 22-year-old Spaniard has still not dropped a set in the tournament. It set up a quarter-final against American Ben Shelton, the No. 8 seed, Yahoo Sports reported.

Back from four and a half months out

What Navratilova keeps circling back to is set against a lay-off that would slow most players down. Alcaraz arrived at Flushing Meadows after roughly four and a half months off tour with a wrist injury, per ABC, and the tournament has effectively been his re-entry to competitive tennis.

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His verdict on his own performance against Paul was flatter than Navratilova’s.

“I think I just played my game. I tried to play to my style,” Alcaraz told reporters.

What a successful defence would mean

Alcaraz is defending the US Open title he won in New York last year. Sky Sports notes that holding on to it would make him the only man in the Open Era to successfully defend major titles on all three surfaces.

Shelton stands in the way at Flushing Meadows.

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