American star Ben Shelton has sent a major injury scare after he was seen wincing in pain and clutching at his right hamstring during his mixed doubles clash.
Shelton, playing alongside Taylor Townsend in the mixed doubles semi finals against Jessica Pegula and Austin Krajicek, looked to be limping when chasing balls across the court.
Given Shelton has a semi final clash against Novak Djokovic on Friday (AEST) to worry about, a hamstring injury is the last thing he’d want when he takes on the superstar.
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‘ON A LEVEL OF THEIR OWN’: ALCARAZ v DJOKER BATTLE A STEP CLOSER
Carlos Alcaraz powered into the semi-finals of the US Open as rival Daniil Medvedev battled through a brutal heatwave to join the Spaniard in the last four.
Defending champion Alcaraz moved to within one win of a potential dream final with Djokovic with an emphatic straight sets victory over German 12th Alexander Zverev.
Zverev had emerged as a dark horse after a marathon five-set win over Italy’s sixth seed Jannik Sinner on Monday.
But the German’s hopes of extending his stay in New York were obliterated by a devastatingly clinical performance from Alcaraz, who completed a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win in 2hr 30min on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
The victory leaves the 20-year-old Alcaraz firmly on course for another final showdown with 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic after their Wimbledon classic in July.
Djokovic faces unseeded American Ben Shelton in Friday’s other semi-final. “I’m feeling really comfortable playing on this court, playing in New York,” said Alcaraz, who will face Russian third seed Medvedev in the semi-finals on Friday.
“I’m feeling strong. I think I’m ready for a great battle against Medvedev,” added Alcaraz, who has dropped just one set en route to the last four.
Zverev said post-match the rest of the men’s field had work to do to catch Alcaraz and Djokovic, who were currently on a different level.
‘GOING TO DIE’: MEDVEDEV’S GRAVE FEAR AMID SWELTERING HEAT
Medvedev defeated fellow Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach his fourth US Open semi-final and set up a possible meeting with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Third seed Medvedev, the 2021 US Open winner, rallied from a break down in all three sets as he condemned world number eight Rublev to a ninth straight Grand Slam quarter-final loss.
However, Medvedev was visibly unhappy with playing in the sweltering heat at Flushing Meadows.
Between points in the third set, the Russian superstar muttered to himself: “One player’s going to die, and they’re going to see.”
Earlier in their contest, the US Open’s heat rule was enforced which meant Medvedev and Rublev would receive longer breaks between sets.
The heat rule comes into play once temperatures in New York reach above 30 degrees celsius.
Speaking after the game, Medvedev revealed he was even struggling to see the ball as early as the first set due to the heat.
“It was brutal. The onyl good thing I see in this condition is that both suffered,” Medvedev said.
“The end of the first set, I couldn’t see the ball anymore. I just played with sensation, tried to run, tried to go for it, tried to hit the ball. He did the same things sometimes.”
Medvedev will next play Alcaraz or Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who square off in the last quarter-final in the evening session.
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NO. 2 SEED BREEZES PAST RIVAL TO SEAL SPOT IN SEMIS
Aryna Sabalenka stayed on course for her second Grand Slam title of the season after cruising past China’s Zheng Qinwen in straight sets to reach the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka — who will take over as world number one next week — booked her place in the last four with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in 1hr 13min.
The Belarusian second seed will face Madison Keys of the United States in the last four.
“I think I definitely played great tennis today,” Sabalenka said, before praising her opponent.
“I’m super happy with the win against her, she played incredible tennis at the US Open this year.”
Sabalenka was assured of replacing Iga Swiatek at the top of the women’s rankings after the Polish No.1 crashed out of the US Open on Sunday.
However Sabalenka said she is not thinking about her new-found status as the world’s top player just yet.
“Of course I’m happy … it’s incredible for me and my family.
“But I have some things still to do in New York this year and I’ll think about becoming No.1 after the US Open.”
Rising Chinese star Zheng had been dreaming of pulling off another upset after reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-final by downing last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur in the fourth round.
But the 20-year-old 23rd seed never looked like toppling the hard-hitting Sabalenka, who threatened to run away with the match after a blistering start in which she broke Zheng twice for a 3-0 lead, conceding just two points.
Zheng was broken again to go 4-0 down and although she finally held in the sixth game to make it 5-1, Sabalenka served out easily to take the first set in just 27 minutes.
Sabalenka’s dominance was reflected in her serve, where she won 23 of 26 points on her first serve, and 13 of 19 on her second. Zheng was unable to open up a single break point opportunity across the match.
Zheng fared slightly better in the second set, but after Sabalenka broke in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead, the result was never in doubt, and she wrapped up victory on serve in the 10th game.
Sabalenka now faces another Grand Slam clash with Keys after beating the American in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July.
Keys, who reached the US Open final in 2017, advanced to the last four after defeating Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4.
Vondrousova was left ruing her failure to convert any of nine break points that came her way, while Keys was a perfect three-from-three on break points.
“I love playing here, in front of a home crowd — you never feel like you can’t get out of any situation,” Keys said.
Vondrousova said she had struggled to cope with the power of Keys’ serve and groundstrokes.
“I felt like I was under so much pressure from the first point,” Vondrousova said. “There wasn’t so much to do, honestly. It was very tough. I was just trying to fight, run for every ball. She was just too good.”
The match was halted in the first game of the opening set after a spectator required treatment for a medical emergency. US Open organisers later said the incident was not heat-related.