LAST UPDATE | 4 Sep 2023
WIMBLEDON CHAMPION MARKETA Vondrousova moved a step closer to back-to-back grand slam titles by beating Peyton Stearns to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
The 24-year-old Czech, seeded ninth here two months after becoming the first unseeded woman to win at SW19, fell a set behind to Stearns.
But the American youngster, whose powerful forehand accounted for Britain’s Katie Boulter in round three, won just five more games as Vondrousova triumphed 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-2.
What happens next is a meeting with Madison Keys, a former Flushing Meadows runner-up who sprung a mild surprise against fellow American Jessica Pegula, the third seed.
Keys, seeded 17, is emulating the form which swept her to the final in 2017 and sunk the highly-fancied Pegula 6-1 6-3.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz stayed firmly on course to defend his US Open title as he reached the quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
Alcaraz eased past the 61st-ranked Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 under the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium and will face sixth seed Jannik Sinner or 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev for a place in the semi-finals.
The Spaniard beat Sinner in five sets in last year’s quarter-finals in New York in a match which set a record for the latest ever finish at the tournament of 2:50am.
Alcaraz, 20, is the first man to make the last eight or better in his first three US Open appearances since 1980.
He broke midway through the opening set and then twice in the second, stylishly charging into a two-set lead with a delicate forehand on the run past an outstretched Arnaldi.
Arnaldi pounced on his first opportunity to break Alcaraz early in the third set only to see his advantage erased the following game.
Alcaraz ripped a sensational cross-court forehand to bring up three match points on Arnaldi’s serve at 4-5 and closed out victory inside two hours.
Andrey Rublev also reached the US Open quarter-finals for the fourth time on Monday after beating Britain’s Jack Draper 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Russian eighth seed Rublev goes on to play 2021 champion and compatriot Daniil Medvedev or Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the 13th seed, for a spot in the last four.
The 25-year-old Rublev is through to his third Grand Slam quarter-final of the season. He has made the last eight of a major nine times but never gone beyond that stage.
The injury-plagued Draper, the world number 123, had been attempting to become the first British man to reach the US Open quarters since Andy Murray in 2016.
With reporting from – © AFP 2023
