(New York) Carlos Alcaraz easily defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of the United States Tennis Open in a third year in a row.
The favourite, who is trying to defend his title after winning the Wimbledon tournament in July, said he now prefers playing on hard courts and enjoys performing under the roof of the Arthur-Ashe Stadium. That seemed to be the case against Arnaldi, an Italian ranked 61st in the world who had no answer to the power of Alcaraz.
Alcaraz, 20, became the youngest player to reach the round of eight three times since 1968. Andre Agassi is the only other to do so before the age of 21.
The Spaniard will now face the winner of the duel between Jannik Sinner (sixth) and Alexander Zverev (12th) in the evening.
On the women’s side, Madison Keys outscored fellow American Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-3 in just over an hour.
Keys, the 17th seed and runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2017, won 77% of the points contested on his first serve. She used her power from the back of the court to keep rallies short – just over three shots on average – and she quickly disposed of her good friend, who was the third seed.
“We both want to win and it’s never personal on the court,” Keys said.
For Pegula, this is another disappointing Grand Slam result. She reached the quarter-finals at each of the four majors, but never made it past that stage.
In the quarter-finals, Keys will face the Czech and ninth seed Marketa Vondrousova. The latter came from behind to defeat American Peyton Stearns 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2.
Vondrousova is aiming for a second straight major title, having triumphed at Wimbledon in July.
“I didn’t expect this after Wimbledon. There’s a lot of pressure, Vondrousova noted. We’ll see what will happen. »
Zheng Qinwen eliminated last year’s runner-up, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur (fifth), in a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Qinwen (23) thus became the first Chinese to reach the quarter-finals of the United States Open since Wang Qiang in 2019.
“I’m super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have a really good performance today,” Qinwen said in front of the crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
She will now face the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka, who will become the new queen of women’s tennis following the elimination of the current Iga Swiatek, and Daria Kasatkina (13th).
In the evening, Daniil Medvedev (third) crossed swords with Alex de Minaur (13th).
