Flushing Meadows: The “brilliant” Alcaras sets a date with Italian Arnaldi
Spain’s Carlos Alcaras, the world number one, successfully continued his campaign to defend the title at the US Open tennis championship, the last of the four major tournaments on the “Flushing Meadows” courts, by reaching the final price after defeating Britain’s Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6. – 3, while Tunisian Anas Jaber, ranked fifth in the world and last year’s runner-up, needed two hours and 56 minutes to pass Czech Mari Bouzkova (injured) 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Although he has not returned to his best levels yet, Alcaras’ level and confidence are enhanced from match to match as he seeks to become the first player to successfully defend his title since Swiss Roger Federer, who won 5 consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008.
Against Evans, the 26th seed, the 20-year-old Spaniard mixed moments of brilliance with lapses of distraction but was never really in danger on his way to a 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory.
“He (Evans) was a tough competitor,” Alcaras said after the victory. I am very happy to beat him and reach the final price.”
He added, “We played some great points, which made us smile. We play to give people pleasure.”
Alcaras hopes to become the first player to successfully defend his title at Flushing Meadows since 2008, when Swiss legend Roger Federer won the title for the fifth year in a row.
Alcaras will meet in the next round, the 22-year-old Italian Matteo Arnaldi, ranked 61 in the world, and the winner over the other Briton, Cameron Nouri, sixteenth, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaras’ victory contributed to a difficult day for the British players, as only young player Jack Draper escaped from the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over American wildcard Michael Moh to book his place in the fourth round for the first time in a tournament. Grand Slam.
Draper arrived in New York unsure of his ability to compete after suffering a minor tear in his shoulder that forced him to withdraw from the Winston-Salem tournament, but the 21-year-old was the last Briton to continue in the tournament, after bidding farewell to British number one Cameron Norrie and seed 16 in the tournament against Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Russian Daniil Medvedev qualified for the same round by defeating Argentine Sebastian Paes 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. In turn, his compatriot Andrei Rublev, ranked eighth in the world, continued his career with success after he overturned a set delay to his victory over Frenchman Arthur Renderkneich, 3-6, 6. – 3, 6 – 1 and 7 – 5.
The 25-year-old Russian said: “I had never played against Arthur and I didn’t really know what to expect, except that I saw on TV that he had powerful forehands. I’m glad I turned things around and won.”
Rublev faces British Jack Draper in the final eight. The Italian Yannick Sinner, the sixth, who is seeking a revenge match against Alcaras in the quarter-finals, defeated Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2016, with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sinner, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on the 16th of last month, lost to Alcaras in a marathon 5-set match in New York in the quarterfinals last year.
The Italian will face his twelfth German opponent, Alexander Zverev, who defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1.
In the women’s game, Jaber struggled to resolve her match against Czech Marie Bozkova, seeded 31. After winning the first set, Bozkova, seeded 31, underwent off-court treatment in the middle of the second set due to an obvious problem in her leg, then continued to fight, but the Tunisian player took advantage of her opponent’s physical decline to win 5 – 7, 7-6 and 6-3 after about 3 hours.
“I was trying to get her to move as much as possible,” Jaber said. I know it’s not great, but I wanted to win, I wasn’t sure at first how serious her injury was. I really focused on her (more) than myself. I feel like I forgot I wasn’t feeling well either. Glad I got over this. It is never easy to face an injured player. It really crosses your mind.”
Anas, who is seeking her first Grand Slam title, said she will need to work on her serve before her fourth-round match with China’s Shenwen Zhao (ranked 23). She added, “I think it will be very important to face a young and talented player. We will try to have fun on the field. This is very important to me.”
Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, ranked second in the world, qualified for the eighth round by defeating Frenchwoman Clara Borrell 6-1, 6-1 in the third round.
American Jessica Pegula, the third, reached the same round by defeating Ukrainian Elena Svitolina, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in July, with 3 sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Pegula, 29, broke her opponent’s serve twice in the decisive set on her way to defeating Svitolina, ranked 26th in the world, for the fourth time in a row, knowing that she beat her in 3 sets also in Washington last month.
“I knew she wouldn’t give up easily, no matter what,” said Pegula, who has reached the last eight in the last eight Grand Slams.
Pegula will play with compatriot Madison Keys, the seventeenth and runner-up of Flushing Meadows in 2017, who defeated the fourteenth Russian Lyudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
And with the arrival of 4 American men, and the same number of women, to the fourth round, the fans of the host country can dream of sweeping the two “Flushing Meadows” titles, no matter how far-fetched this idea may seem.
Since 2002, when Pete Sampras and Serena Williams crowned the US Open men’s and women’s singles titles, the Americans have not been able to lift both trophies, but with Pegula, Coco Gough, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe in the top ten in the world and in the round of sixteen, the opportunity will exist.
2023-09-04 00:01:22
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