(New York) Although Carlos Alcaraz wasn’t perfect in his U.S. Open third-round victory, the defending champion did what was necessary and even put a smile on his face on Saturday, in addition to frustrating Dan Evans to the point where he threw his racquet a few times.
Less than 12 hours after the man everyone expects him to face in the final next weekend, Novak Djokovic, erased a two-set deficit to win, Alcaraz reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the third year in a row. He beat 26th-seeded Evans 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Alcaraz, world No. 1, demonstrated his versatility by hitting different spectacular shots.
“We play to make people happy, or at least entertain them. It’s good when the show is good,” said Alcaraz, who won his second Grand Slam title in July by beating Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.
The 20-year-old Spaniard is trying to become the first man to win a second straight title in New York since Roger Federer’s five straight triumphs from 2004 to 2008.
In the fourth round, Alcaraz will face Matteo Arnaldi, a 22-year-old Italian who is ranked 61st in the world. Arnaldi, who had won just one Grand Slam match before arriving in New York, reached the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
In other games early Saturday, Britain’s Jack Draper, 123rd in the world, also reached the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over American guest Michael Mmoh.
Later, No. 6 Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, while No. 8 Russian Andrey Rublev beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5.
On the women’s side, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka continued her run with a crushing 6-1, 6-1 win over France’s Clara Burel. Sabalenka could snatch No. 1 in the world from Iga Swiatek depending on their results in New York.
Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January, has lost just 12 games in three matches so far at the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre.
In the next round, Sabalenka will face No. 13 Daria Kasatkina, who defeated Belgium’s Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-4.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Jessica Pegula defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, setting the stage for a duel against fellow American Madison Keys.
Pegula hopes to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in a Grand Slam. She will first have to beat the runner-up in New York in 2017, who also needed three sets to reach the round of 16.
Keys, no. 17, defeated Liudmila Samsonova, no. 14, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Pegula was consistently challenged by No. 26 Svitolina. She won the last four games, however, to complete the semi-finalist at the 2019 US Open.
At the end of the afternoon, the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, no. 23, defeated the Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
