Carlos Alcaraz surged into the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday as upsets dominated the women’s draw with Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula becoming the latest highly ranked players to go crashing out.
Defending champion Alcaraz, who has only dropped one set on his journey into the last eight, produced a dominant display to overwhelm Italian world No.61 Matteo Arnaldi, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in 1hr 57min.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz is bidding to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2008 to successfully defend the US Open after winning the title for the first time last year.
The identity of the Spaniard’s quarter-final opponent will be confirmed later Monday, with Alcaraz due to face either Germany’s Alexander Zverev or Italy’s sixth seed Jannik Sinner in the last eight on Wednesday.
A match with Sinner would be a repeat of last year’s quarter-final classic between the two men, which set a record as the latest ever finish for a US Open game after wrapping up at 2.50am.
“I think the intensity from the beginning until the last ball, I played a really solid match, less mistakes,” Alcaraz said after Monday’s brisk victory.
“I’m really happy with the performance in general.”
In other men’s matches on Monday, eighth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Britain’s Jack Draper.
Rublev will face the winner of Monday’s later game between Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, or Australian 13th seed Alex de Minaur.
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