It took just seven minutes for Carlos Alcaraz to recognise that he was having another one of those days where he could do whatever he wanted with a tennis ball. Up a game point in his opening service game, the Spaniard skipped around the ball from far behind the baseline in his backhand corner and attempted the riskiest shot possible, unleashing a remarkable forehand winner.
This would not be the last time that the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd collectively gasped at Alcaraz’s greatness as he continued to radiate confidence and calm in New York, effortlessly moving into the semi-finals with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jiri Lehecka.
This tournament has further underscored the ease and confidence surrounding Alcaraz’s tennis. Having reached the finals of his last seven tournaments while leading the tour with 59 match wins and six titles, this is the most consistent stretch of the 22-year-old’s career and he has played with total freedom over the past 10 days. He has now reached a grand slam semi-final without dropping a set for the first time in his career.
Still, Alcaraz began the match fully conscious of the fact that Lehecka represented his toughest opponent so far and things could be different. The talented 23-year-old has been on the verge of breaking through for some time. He is armed with a powerful first serve and a destructive forehand. At the Qatar Open in February, the Czech toppled Alcaraz in three sets.
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This time, Alcaraz set the tone immediately by breaking Lehecka’s serve in the opening game. Across nearly two hours, he never let up. Alcaraz served spectacularly well, marching through his service games, his variety of shot starkly contrasted with Lehecka’s one-note attack. His defence made the court seem so narrow for his challenger.
After two convincing sets, where Alcaraz broke in the opening service game and never looked back, the third set particularly demonstrated his growth. Lehecka played his best set of the match, moving through his own service games and putting pressure on Alcaraz.
In the past, the Alcaraz may have lost focus and found himself tussling both his opponent and himself. On this occasion, the moment the Lehecka began to show nerves, he pounced. At 4-4, instead of searching for a highlight-reel winner, Alcaraz locked down his game, making deep returns and offering up no free errors. He broke Lehecka’s serve with a spectacular defensive effort, celebrating with a roar.
Even for Alcaraz, who continues to pile up big titles at a faster rate than anyone else in the world, his recent efficiency has been striking. He has always been prone to dramatic moments of self-sabotage. The next step in Alcaraz’s career was learning how to perform more consistently, allowing him to preserve his mental and physical energy for his biggest rivals. As he moves closer to a potential sixth grand slam title, his progress is undeniable.
In the first of the women’s singles quarter-finals, Jessica Pegula continued to redraw the limits of her career. The 31-year-old American swept into the last four with a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Barbora Krejcikova, becoming the first woman to reach back-to-back semi-finals in New York without dropping a set since Serena Williams strung together four straight runs between 2011 and 2014.
It was a performance of cool authority, built less on fireworks than on persistence and precision. Pegula needed only 86 minutes to subdue her opponent, whose serve collapsed under pressure with seven double faults and a first-serve percentage barely above 40 per cent. Where Krejcikova unravelled, Pegula stayed the course, drawing energy from a nearly full Arthur Ashe Stadium that sensed they were watching a home contender gather momentum.
The match began with Krejcikova missing an overhead and donating her first double fault to drop serve at love. Pegula extended her lead to 4-2 but stumbled when she missed too many first serves, allowing Krejcikova to break back. The reprieve was fleeting. Another double fault from the Czech in the following game opened the door and Pegula kicked it down, breaking immediately and consolidating to pocket the opening set in 38 minutes. Time and again Krejcikova’s erratic toss left her scrambling, while Pegula punished the second delivery with crisp, flat returns.
The Czech’s troubles redoubled in the second set. She was broken at love to open, mixing in consecutive double faults, as Pegula stamped her authority once more. The fourth seed was not flawless – she double-faulted twice in a single game at 2-2 and faced a break point – but she steadied herself with a searing backhand passing winner before holding for 3-1. When Krejcikova sprayed a forehand wide in the next game to drop serve again, Pegula had the insurance break she needed. Though she briefly relinquished one of them, the American’s control was never in real doubt. Serving for the match at 5-3, she closed it out on her second match point when Krejcikova’s forehand sailed past the baseline. – Guardian
