New York: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz lived up to his top billing as the defending champion dismantled No. 12 seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the US Open semifinals, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Both men unleashed a flurry of impressive baseline winners throughout much of the opening set. But with Zverev serving at 3-4, the German blinked first with three consecutive unforced errors to gift a breakpoint to his opponent. Alcaraz made good on the opportunity with a smash winner and then comfortably held to love to take the early advantage, reports us open.
His gauntlet to the quarterfinals began to catch up with him in the second set as it became clear that defeating Alcaraz would require more marathon magic from the 2020 US Open finalist.
Alcaraz sensed his opponent’s dwindling foot speed and raised his level in the second set, cracking a backhand winner to break Zverev at 1-1 and earning an insurance break four games later with a forehand winner. He easily closed out the set on his serve at 5-2 and took a commanding two-set lead.