Brutal conditions at the US Open: “At some point someone else will die here on the pitch”

The tennis Olympic champion lost to the 20-year-old defending champion from Spain on Wednesday evening (local time) in the quarter-finals after 2:30 hours in three sets 3: 6, 2: 6, 4: 6.

Two days after the epic victory against the Italian Jannik Sinner over more than four and a half hours, Zverev in New York lacked the strength to stand against Alcaraz. In addition, the 26-year-old from Hamburg looked battered and was treated after the second sentence. Zverev has to wait for his first triumph in a Grand Slam tournament. Alcaraz meets Russian Daniil Medvedev in the round of the top four on Friday.

Number three seeded Daniil Medvedev prevailed in a duel between two Russians and his friend Andrei Rublev after 2:47 hours in very muggy conditions with 6:4,6:3,6:4 and is now 6th head-to-head :2 asked. Medvedev qualified for his fourth semifinal at Flushing Meadows. In 2021, Medvedev won his only major title to date as the successor to Dominic Thiem at the US Open.

“It was brutal”

“At some point someone else will die here on the pitch,” Medvedev said to the camera during the match. “It was brutal, the only good thing about these conditions was that we both suffered.” For Rublev, Medvedev’s daughter’s godfather, it was a bitter defeat, because he also lost his ninth quarterfinal at Grand Slam level.

Aryna Sabalenka effortlessly made her way into her third US Open semi-final en suite on Wednesday. The number two seeded tennis player from Belarus had no trouble with China’s Zheng Qinwen, who was in a major semifinal for the first time, and defeated her 6:1,6:4 after 72 minutes. In the semifinals, Sabalenka will now face Marketa Vondrousova (CZE-9) or Madison Keys (USA-17). The last women’s quarter-finals were held on Thursday night CEST.

Gauff in the semifinals

Sabalenka was happy after her win. “I played great tennis and I’m super happy with the performance,” Sabalenka said happily on the court. She didn’t want to talk much about climbing the tennis throne on Monday. “It’s important for me and my family, but I still have a few things to do in New York and I won’t think about number one until after the US Open.” Sabalenka also thanked the audience. “I will do everything to stay until the end to enjoy this atmosphere.”

Sabalenka is only two wins away from the second Grand Slam title after that in Australia last January. After that she was eliminated in Roland Garros and Wimbledon only in the semifinals. Thanks to these successes and the early exit of the Pole Iga Swiatek, the 25-year-old from Minsk took first place in the WTA rankings on Monday.

In their seventh Grand Slam semi-final, Sabalenka will be the favorite. She has a 4-2 record against Wimbledon champion Vondrousova and has won the last four matches.

US young star Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova had already qualified for the semi-finals. The 19-year-old world number six from Delray Beach could reach her second final after Roland Garros 2022. Muchova lost her most recently in the Cincinnati final by 3:6,4:6.