By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz underlined his status as the man to beat at the U.S. Open with a ruthless 6-3 6-4 6-1 victory over China’s Wu Yibing on Friday as he reached the fourth round and continued his bid for a third title at Flushing Meadows.
Victory extended Alcaraz’s match-winning streak at the Grand Slams to 17 following his triumph at Flushing Meadows last year and his Australian Open win in February, the latter helping him to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
The Spaniard arrived in New York having missed nearly five months of action with a wrist injury and has looked increasingly assured with each passing round, although Wu briefly halted his early momentum by recovering a break in the opening set.
“I think today was a really high rhythm. With the way that he plays, he has an unbelievable forehand and backhand, so the ball skips around a lot on court and it’s difficult to control it sometimes,” the 23-year-old Alcaraz said.
“I stayed in there, played aggressive and smart in the tough moments and I’m really happy. I could be better, but overall I’m really proud and very happy with the performance today.”
World number 113 Wu, bidding to become the first Chinese man to make the last 16 of a Grand Slam in the professional era, was unable to build on that bright spell on Arthur Ashe Stadium and Alcaraz reasserted his authority to move ahead.
SPEED AND ACCURACY
The seven-times major champion’s speed around the court and relentless accuracy were on full display in the second set, but Wu’s stubborn resistance drew a scream of frustration from him before he conjured up the magic needed to double his lead.
Alcaraz said he was happy with how he had been responding to the challenges in his comeback tournament.
“To be honest I’m better than I thought I’d be physically,” Alcaraz added. “I though I’d be bad after the first match, but I’m recovering really well and I’m doing great things off the court to be in shape.
“Every time I step on court I give it my all, I’m trying to improve after every match, and hopefully in the next round I’ll be just a bit better than today.”
With the finish line in sight, the second seed unleashed a huge roar as he broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set and pulled clear of Wu for a comprehensive victory that set up a meeting with American 20th seed Tommy Paul.
“He’s going to play at home, which is going to be a little bit of an advantage for him,” Alcaraz said about Paul, who overcame Alexander Bublik in five sets.
“Hopefully he’s going to be a bit tired after today.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
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