US open: No escape from Alcaraz

New York, September 7

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Carlos Alcaraz found himself in a hint of a predicament 35 minutes into his US Open quarterfinal against Alexander Zverev.

At 3-all in the first set under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night, Zverev earned the first break points of the match. An opening. An opportunity to gain an early edge against the defending champion. And then — poof! — gone. Alcaraz dismissed those chances to hold, then gained a break himself in the next game by depositing an overhead that bounced into the stands. One more service hold arrived and, just like that, the set belonged to Alcaraz, as did, eventually, a spot in the semifinals.

The top-seeded Alcaraz pushed aside Zverev 6-3 6-2 6-4 and moved a step closer to becoming the first man to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer collected five in a row from 2004-08. “(If) I could have broken, it could have gone my way. It didn’t,” Zverev said about that key segment in the match’s seventh game. “Even though I lost the first set, I thought it was going to be a competitive match. I thought my level was there. I thought his level was there. I thought it was going to be a fun one.”

Feeling the heat

Soaked with sweat as the temperature neared 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) on the hottest day at this year’s US Open, 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev walked slowly to towel off between points of his victory, looked into a courtside camera and issued what sounded like a mix between a warning and a plea. “You cannot imagine,” he said on Wednesday. “One player (is) gonna die, and they’re gonna see.” “The only thing that is a little bit, let’s call it dangerous, is that the question is: How far could we go?”

Medvedev, a 27-year-old Russian seeded No. 3, said after eliminating Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-3 6-4 to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the fourth time.

“I’m not sure what can we do. Because probably we cannot stop the tournament for four days — because it’s been, what, three, four days it’s been brutal like this? — because then it basically ruins everything: the TV, even the tickets, everything. It ruins everything,” said Medvedev, who said he needed an ice bath and something to eat after leaving the court. “So I don’t think this could be done.”

They’re using ice — so much ice, in plastic bags or wrapped in towels — and courtside tubes blowing cold air to try to stay cool.

Medvedev used an inhaler during a second-set changeover Wednesday while being checked on by a doctor, who checked his breathing with a stethoscope. Rublev leaned back on his sideline chair as if he would rather be anywhere else. — AP

1Alcaraz arrived for his showdown with Zverev as the first man to reach the quarterfinals or better in his first three US Open showings since Johan Kriek in 1978-1980

15Zverev spent nearly 15 hours on court across his first four matches this fortnight

5Number of matches Medvedev has lost at the US Open, against 28 victories

12Alcaraz’s current US Open winning streak. The defending champ is into the semifinals after his straight-set win over Zverev on Day 10

Bopanna-Ebden pair enter doubles final

Continuing their dream run, India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden entered the final of the US Open with a 7-6(7-3) 6-2 win over French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut today. With this feat, the 43-year-old Indian became the oldest player to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era. Bopanna beat the record of Daniel Nestor, who was 43 years and 4 months when he played in a Major final, by two months.