Carlos Alcaraz didn’t break a sweat on Monday as he dispatched Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open for the third time in as many appearances at Flushing Meadows.
The Spanish prodigy, launched in the effort to defend the title after being crowned at Wimbledon in July, acknowledged that he has taken a liking to playing on hard surfaces and indoors at the Arthur Ashe stadium.
At 20, Alcaraz became the second man with three appearances in the US Open quarterfinals before turning 21 in the open era, starting in 1968. The other was the American Andre Agassi between 1988 and 1990 .
He also became the first man to reach at least the quarterfinals in his first three appearances at the tournament since South Africa’s Johan Kriek between 1978 and 1980.
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His exhibition on Monday afternoon with the roof closed against Arnaldi, an Italian who is 61st in the ranking, endorsed Alcaraz’s analysis.
He did not face break points in the first two sets against Arnaldi and totaled 31 winners.
Alcaraz’s rival on duty will come from the winner of the match between the Italian Jannik Sinner (sixth seed) and the German Alexander Zverev (12th).
Alcaraz defeated Sinner in the quarterfinals of last year’s edition, a match that has never ended at the US Open. That match, lasting 5 hours and 18 minutes, ended at 2:51 a.m. and went down as the latest finisher in tournament history.
AP
2023-09-04 21:17:02
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