Carlos Alcaraz continues to gain momentum in his title defence at the US Open after defeating Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the quarter-finals.
The top seed rallied to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, win over the world No.12 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, producing a total of 29 winners and saving all five break points he faced in the match. Alcaraz is now 17-1 in Grand Slam matches so far this season which works out as a winning percentage of 94.4%. According to OptaAce, this is the highest win rate achieved by a male player under the age of 21 at majors within the same year in the Open Era.
“Watching the level Sascha (Zverev) was playing in the first set and being able to win was great for me,” Alcaraz said during his press conference.
“It gave me more confidence and probably he got down a little bit in the second set. Coming into the third set, knowing that I’m up, playing a great level, for him, it was really, really tough.”
Alcaraz acknowledged that his latest opponent was ‘struggling a bit physically.’ Zverev, who was runner-up back in 2020, confirmed afterward that he was troubled by a hamstring problem but didn’t want to take a medical timeout. The issue is a new setback for the German who said he didn’t have any pain in the area during his five-set clash with Jannik Sinner earlier in the week.
“In the second set, I felt something in my hamstring glute, left side. I couldn’t push off on my serve anymore.” He said. “My serve speed was down quite a lot compared to the other days. Against him (Alcaraz) I needed a good serving day otherwise it would have been difficult.”
Bidding to become the first man since Roger Federer to win consecutive US Open titles, Alcaraz has only dropped one set so far in the tournament which was against Dan Evans in the third round. He has now reached the semi-finals or better at four consecutive Grand Slam events.
It has been a rapid rise for the 20-year-old Spaniard over the past couple of years. He has already won 12 Tour titles with six of those triumphs occuring in 2023. Last season he became the youngest year-end No.1 in ATP rankings history.
“I think I’m more mature now. I grew up a lot since last year. Last year I was facing my first semifinal of a Grand Slam. Now I’m facing my fourth one.” He commented on his development in the sport.
“I feel like I’m a totally different player. I’m more mature. I feel like I’m a different person and a different player.”
Alcaraz is closing in on a mouthwatering showdown with Novak Djokovic in the final but both men need to come through their semi-final encounters to ensure this meeting happens. Awaiting the current champion in the last four will be Daniil Medvedev who beat Andrey Rublev in his quarter-final match. He leads the Russian 2-1 in their head-to-head with both of his victories occurring this year.
“The last matches that I played against Daniil I played a tactical game played perfectly,” Alcaraz said before adding, “I did pretty well all the things that I had to do against him, so I think my game suits pretty well against that type of opponent.”
All top three seeds (Alcaraz, Djokovic and Medvedev) have progressed to the last four of the US Open. The last time this happened was back in 2011.
