The German Alexander Zverev and the Swiss Belinda Bencic, brand-new winners of Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games, took their tickets to the quarterfinals of the United States Open on Monday.
Zverev, who beat the young Italian Jannik Sinner, and Bencic, who got rid of the Polish Iga Swiatek, were the protagonists of the start of a day in which Novak Djokovic will try to take another step towards the feat of winning the four Grand Slam titles in the same year.
On the Arthur Ashe center court, Zverev, runner-up at the last US Open, beat Sinner 6-4, 6-4 and 7-6 (9/7) in two hours and 25 minutes of play.
The fourth-seeded German in New York only went through a few moments of trouble in the third set, when the tall Italian left glimpses of talent that has led him to add three ATP trophies and a Miami Masters 1000 final.
Sinner, 20, enjoyed five set balls but the German solved them by relying on his devastating service (17 ‘aces’ for 5 of his rival) and closed the game in the ‘tiebreak’.
“It was a very high-level match from the beginning to the end,” acknowledged the world number four, who revealed that he keeps his Olympic gold medal very close.
“I hug her at night,” he said. “I don’t have a girlfriend, so the gold medal sleeps next to me (…) It’s a little reminder of what happened last month to give me some energy.”
Zverev thus continues on his way to his second straight final at Flushing Meadows, after his 2020 loss to Dominic Thiem in which he let slip a 2-0 lead.
The German will be seen in the quarterfinals with the winner of the crossing between the South African Lloyd Harris and the American Reilly Opelka, who won the first set 7-6 (8/6).
– Bencic at full speed –
In the first game of the day, Belinda Bencic maintained the momentum of her Olympic victory and beat Iga Swiatek, seventh seeded, 7-6 (12/14) and 6-3 in two hours and six minutes of play on the court. Louis Armstrong.
The 11th-seeded Swiss is still cruising in New York, where she has yet to give up a set.
Against the 20-year-old Swiatek, Bencic forged her victory in a fierce 23-minute first-set tiebreaker, in which the Pole wasted three set points.
“It was very tight. To win a ‘tiebreak’ you always have to have a bit of luck,” he acknowledged. “After winning the ‘tiebreak’ it was easier.”
Bencic will fight in the quarterfinals against the winner of the clash between the American Shelby Rogers, surprising executioner of the number one Ashleigh Barty, and the young Emma Raducanu.
At 18 years old, the British is another of the great sensations of this US Open along with other tennis players of the same age as the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz and the Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
– Djokovic against young Brooksby –
The day will also offer a new chapter on Novak Djokovic’s journey to a historic fourth title at Flushing Meadows.
At 20, the young American Jenson Brooksby will be the Serbian’s next obstacle to a crown with which he would complete the conquest of the four Grand Slams of the year, a feat that no male tennis player has achieved since Rod Laver in 1969.
The 34-year-old world number one is also on the hunt for his 21st Grand Slam singles trophy, with which he would surpass rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both absent due to injuries.
‘Nole’ has a 20-win streak against American tennis players before his first meeting with Brooksby, number 99 in the ATP.
In case of qualifying for the quarterfinals, Djokovic could face the Italian Matteo Berrettini again, his victim in the final of last Wimbledon.
Berrettini, the sixth seed, will face the German Oscar Otte, 144 of the ATP ranking, whom he beat in the first round of this year’s Roland Garros.
If Otte is able to surprise the Italian, he will become the lowest ranked player (174) to be among the top eight at the US Open since Jimmy Connors in 1991.
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