NEW YORK — Defending champions Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are back to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, and they made it look easy.
The top-ranked Sabalenka solved some early struggles holding serve and overpowered Taylor Townsend, 6-4, 6-3, on Sunday. Alcaraz also advanced in straight sets, beating American Tommy Paul, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, in the second match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I’m happy with that performance,” Alcaraz said. “I played my game. I tried to play my style. Tommy’s such a talented player. His shots are pretty dangerous and it’s sometimes pretty difficult to control the ball when it comes to you, so I just tried to be ready.”
Townsend broke Sabalenka three times in her first four service games as she looked to spring the upset. Sabalenka found a groove, regained her confidence and did not lose another point after falling behind 3-1 in the second set.
“I love matches like that because it was really challenging,” Sabalenka said. “Going through tough challenges and overcoming those challenges, it definitely gives you strength and really strong belief that you can do it.”
This was the first meeting between Sabalenka and Townsend, who gave her opponent fits in the first set but struggled to find her own rhythm.
“This was the most comfortable and confident I’ve ever been playing against a No. 1 player in the world,” Townsend said. “From the beginning, I felt like I belonged. From the beginning, I felt like I was right where I needed to be. I still feel that way.”
Next up for Sabalenka is Wimbledon winner Linda Noskova, who needed six match points to get past Marta Kostyuk, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
“I played a couple of matches against her in the past, which also wasn’t the easiest matches,” Sabalenka said of Noskova. “Really aggressive style of the game. Serving really well, playing super fast. You’ve got to stay really low to be able to handle that power and energy.”
Alcaraz cruises into the quarterfinals
Playing his first tournament following a four-month absence because of a right wrist injury, Alcaraz said last week he would not be coming back if he could not play like his usual self. The 23-year-old Spaniard has made good on that so far, dropping just one set through four rounds.
Alcaraz dictated play on the way to extending his Grand Slam winning streak to 18. When Paul was making things interesting in the third set, Alcaraz set up match point by hitting a shot so perfectly in bounds that it left actor Matthew McConaughey in disbelief, along with many others in the crowd.
Asked if he thinks he is back to form, Alcaraz responded, “I think so.” The U.S. Open is bringing that out in him.
“I’m just trying to enjoy my time on the court,” Alcaraz said. “It doesn’t matter that I was out four months and a half. Every time that I come here, I play my best.”
Alcaraz will play Tuesday against American Ben Shelton, the No. 8 seed who swept Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday night in his strongest performance of the tournament.
“We’re happy to have him back on tour. He lights up the stadium every time he plays,” Shelton said of Alcaraz. “I think it’s going to be fireworks on Tuesday night.”
Americans are making noise
Townsend and Paul were among the 10 Americans to reach the men’s and women’s Round of 16. That is the most in the fourth round at any Grand Slam in nearly a quarter-century, going back to the 2002 U.S. Open, when there were 11.
The five U.S. men – Paul, Shelton, Irvine’s Learner Tien, Frances Tiafoe and Laguna Hills’ Alex Michelsen – are the most at a major since eight in 1995 at Flushing Meadows.
“American tennis has been on the up and up for many years now,” Townsend said. “There have been a really consistent chunk of players – Jess( Pegula), Coco (Gauff) – (who) have been at the top and inside the top five for the last, I don’t know how many years. Ben, Frances, Tommy, Taylor: It’s just such a great group of men, as well.”
At 20, Tien is the youngest American man in the tournament’s fourth round since Andy Roddick in 2002.
Tiafoe knocked off seventh-seeded 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (6), to improve to 10-0 in his career at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which he called “the people’s court.” Michelsen beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4.
Michelsen and Tiafoe will meet in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, guaranteeing an American man in the semifinals. No U.S. men’s player has won a Grand Slam since Roddick in New York in ’03, and there haven’t even been many great opportunities in the more than two decades since.
“We play so much outside of the States obviously, a lot of time in Europe,” Tiafoe said Sunday. “This sport’s so international, so to be able to play in front of friends, family, loved ones, is amazing. They don’t get to see you much, so you want to put on a show.”
Tiafoe is within one victory of his third appearance in the U.S. Open semifinals. To get there he’ll have to beat Michelsen, who has been the dominant player in this year’s tournament. The 22-year-old Michelsen is the only man who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“We’ve been working really hard to get to this point and I’m really happy but not super surprised because of all the work I put in my whole life,” Michelsen said after reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The winner of his match against Tiafoe will face the Alcaraz-Shelton winner.
“I think it will be a great match. I’m excited for the battle,” Shelton said. “Never played him here in New York, and obviously in the position that I want to be in.”
All four men’s matches on Sunday included an American player, and they won three of them. The Americans have a chance to get one more quarterfinalist on Monday when the 14th-seeded Tien faces Karen Khachanov.
The closest the American men came to ending their Grand Slam title drought was two years ago at the U.S. Open, when Taylor Fritz beat Tiafoe in the first all-American Grand Slam semifinal since 2005 to become the first American man in a major final since Roddick in 2009. Jannik Sinner beat Fritz in straight sets for the title.
When the Americans had eight players in the Round of 16 in the 1995 U.S. Open, three reached the semifinals. Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier in the semis and then No. 1 Andre Agassi in the final in an era when the U.S. expected to have multiple title contenders in every Slam.
There will also be an all-American matchup in the women’s quarterfinals. Third-seeded Pegula got there by beating No. 16 Sorana Cirstea and will face 26th-seeded Emma Navarro, who ousted No. 21 Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets.