Carlos Alcaraz Beats Tommy Paul, Updated US Open Men's Tennis Bracket After Sunday Results

Carlos Alcaraz continued his march toward his second straight US Open title and third overall with a dominant victory over Tommy Paul in the Round of 16 on Sunday.

Alcaraz won in straight sets by scores of 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. He's now in the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth time in his career.

The 23-year-old is looking to become the first male competitor to defend his US Open title since Roger Federer won five straight from 2004 to 2008. His 28th career win at the US Open breaks a tie with Pete Sampras for the third-most by any man in his first six appearances in the Open era, putting him behind only John McEnroe (33) and Lleyton Hewitt (29).

Paul, the No. 20 seed, was looking to make it to the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time in his career. He has now lost 14 consecutive sets to Alcaraz.

It was clear early on that Paul was bringing his best against the defending champ, as neither player earned a break point opportunity through the first nine points of the match. Alcaraz finally took over and broke Paul's serve to end the first set in emphatic fashion.

Alcaraz appeared to be cruising when he jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set with another break point. However, Paul earned a break of his own to make things interesting. Undeterred, Alcaraz broke him right back for a third straight time to maintain the advantage.

Still, Paul kept fighting. After falling behind 4-1, he staved off a whopping six break-point chances from Alcaraz to cut into the deficit on a marathon point. Both players held serve back and forth as Alcaraz took the set.

Alcaraz put the pressure on early to start the third set. Paul staved off three break chances before eventually relenting and falling behind 2-1. Both players held serve until Paul started gaining momentum with the match on the line at 5-4. He surprised Alcaraz with two break opportunities, but the Spaniard later battled back to seal the victory.

Alcaraz will face the winner of Sunday's Round of 16 match between No. 8 Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.