New York (AFP) – Carlos Alcaraz surged into the fourth round of the US Open on Friday as American hopes of ending the country’s 22-year wait for a men’s champion suffered a blow with the exits of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. Spanish second seed Alcaraz breezed past Italian 32nd seed Luciano Darderi in emphatic fashion, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Alcaraz’s one hour 44-minute victory sends the 2022 US Open champion into a meeting on Sunday against France’s Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated compatriot Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Alcaraz is aiming to finish the season on a high after winning the French Open in June before losing in the final of Wimbledon last month. The five-time Grand Slam singles champion opened play on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s main court and admitted he had been nervous about his 11:30 am local time start. “I’m not an early morning person so it’s difficult for me to wake up in the morning,” Alcaraz said. “One of the good things today though I woke up early, did the warm-up, and felt good. Starting at 11:30 my first goal is to start well with a good energy and rhythm. I played great tennis, good performance so I’m proud of that.”
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Alcaraz needed a medical timeout while leading 5-4 in the second set for treatment on his right knee, but later said he had no injury concerns. But while Alcaraz was able to shrug off his knee issue, a shoulder injury scuppered Shelton’s hopes of becoming the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. The big-serving Shelton, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2023, departed the Louis Armstrong Stadium court in tears after being forced to retire at the end of the fourth set of his match against French veteran Adrian Mannarino.
Shelton, 22, was leading 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 but clutched his shoulder in pain early in the fourth set and called a medical timeout. He recovered but retired after Mannarino took the fourth set. “I’m not a guy who would retire if I could continue,” said a dejected Shelton. Shelton’s exit was followed by compatriot Tiafoe, the 17th seed who lost 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) to German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff. “I don’t know how to recover from this, to be honest with you,” Tiafoe said. “I haven’t been this down in a very, very long time.”
Later Friday, Novak Djokovic was facing Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the evening session, hoping to stay on course for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title. In other men’s draw action, Czech 20th seed Jiri Lehecka sailed into the next round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Belgium’s Raphael Collignon.
In the women’s draw, meanwhile, world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka faces Canada’s 31st seed Leylah Fernandez in a night game on the Louis Armstrong Stadium. Fernandez reached the final of the US Open in 2021, where she was beaten by Britain’s Emma Raducanu — the only player in history ever to win a Grand Slam singles title after emerging through qualifying. Raducanu’s hopes of another fairytale run in New York came to a juddering halt on Friday when she was steamrollered in straight sets by Kazakh ninth seed Elena Rybakina, losing 6-1, 6-2.
Rybakina will face 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the fourth round after the Czech ousted Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7/4), 6-1. In other women’s draw matches, American fourth seed Jessica Pegula comfortably defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 7-5 to reach the fourth round, where she will face compatriot Ann Li. Belgian 19th seed Elise Mertens, a two-time US Open quarter-finalist, meanwhile exited in three sets, upset by Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
© 2024 AFP
