Carlos Alcaraz found himself in a hint of a predicament 35 minutes into his US Open quarterfinal against Alexander Zverev on Wednesday night.
At 3-all in the first set under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Zverev earned the first break points of the match. An opening. An opportunity to gain an early edge against the defending champion. And then -- 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 Carlos Alcaraz 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 to 2008.
"[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."
Although Zverev attempted to match Alcaraz’s power from the baseline, the Spaniard’s variety, speed and fresh legs gave him the edge over the German, who two days earlier toiled for four hours, 41 minutes to defeat Jannik Sinner in five sets, which marked just his second victory over a Top 10 player in Grand Slam play. In contrast, Alcaraz spent less than two hours on court in a straight-sets win over Matteo Arnaldi.
Alcaraz threw in a number of serve/volley plays, was an impressive 28 of 35 overall in net approaches and mixed in his usual quota of drop shots to keep his opponent off balance. He hit 29 winners to Zverev's 22 and saved all five break points he faced while converting all four break chances on his opponent's serve.
It was a perfect return on a 129 mph first serve that led to a cross-court backhand winner by Alcaraz for the break that tilted the second set his way at 2-1. While Zverev was being tended to by a trainer after that set, Alcaraz whiled away the time by twirling his racket as if it were a baton.
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