US Open: Carlos Alcaraz eases past Rinderknech, Jiri Lehecka into maiden quarters

Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the US Open quarterfinals with a clinical display against Arthur Rinderknech. On Sunday, August 31, the five-time Grand Slam champion took just two hours and nine minutes to seal a 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 win at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Spaniard notched up his 58th victory of the season, extending his run to 21 wins in his last 22 matches. In only his fifth US Open, he has now advanced to a fourth quarterfinal in New York.

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Alcaraz also equalled Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker with 13 men’s singles Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances before turning 23 - the joint-most in the Open Era.

In the opening set, Alcaraz was pushed into a tie-break before holding firm. He then saved two break points early in the second set, and once he secured his first break of serve, the momentum shifted decisively.

From there, the Spaniard took control, firing 36 winners, while Rinderknech’s 28 unforced errors hastened his downfall.

In the quarterfinals, Alcaraz will lock horns with Jiri Lehechka of the Czech Republic.

Lehecka beats Mannarino

Jiri Lehecha stormed into his maiden US Open quarterfinal on Sunday, after a hard-fought three-hour, 14-minute victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino, winning 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The win also secured Lehechka a debut entry into the ATP top 20 rankings.

The Czech youngster has now reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas. While Lehechka insisted he does not get overly concerned with rankings, he admitted it was satisfying to climb further up the ladder with this milestone win.

“I’m not really looking at rankings, but after every tournament I do check if the points made any difference. My coach, on the other hand, counts every point—he’s on the live rankings every day, almost every moment. It feels like he’s not doing anything else but that. Reaching this milestone is special, and it was one of my goals for the year,” Lehechka said.

Lehecka will carry confidence into his next match, having beaten Alcaraz once before, though the Spaniard holds a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head record.