Carlos Alcaraz suffered the first mid-match Wobble from his US Open campaign on Friday, but he resumes his rhythm nevertheless to beat Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 and reach the fourth round.
Leading by a set and 4-1 lost Alcaraz Serve for the first time this week and was pulled in a second set of fight, in which he seemed to land awkwardly after a service. The 22-year-old Spaniard took a medical time out 5-4 to get treatment on his right knee, but took the next seven games to get the check back and racing through a one-hour victory, 44 minutes.
“I feel good, it was just a precautionary measure that I asked for the physio,” said Alcaraz when he was asked about the medical time out. “When he broke my serve, I felt something in the knee in the last point, but after five or six points it disappeared. I just asked the physio to take care of the knee, so I had to feel good. I am going to talk about it with my team, but I feel good.”
Alcaraz, who won his first big title on the US Open in 2022, remains on schedule to meet four -time winner Novak Djokovic in the semi -final. For the time being, however, Alcaraz is waiting for a meeting of the fourth round with Benjamin Bonzi or Arthur Rindernech.
Despite his short decline in the second set, Alcaraz was relentless in all departments, in particular the forehand-for-hand challenge exchanges that occur about the collision. In the second set, however, Darderi produced a few moments of his own magic, including winning an epic All-Court point that ended with a stunning drop volley that caught Alcaraz to set up two breaking points and ultimately convert the second.
“I have just tried to start awake, that was important,” said Alcaraz. “Starting at 11.30 am is not a schedule that I am used to playing, so my first goal is to start well, to start focused on. I think I started very well, pushed him to the utmost, played long rallies, and then kept maintaining it.
“I’m not [morning] person. It is difficult for me to wake up in the morning, so that is a good thing today that I woke up early, I did the warming well, well played … it seems that I am a Spanish man! ”
With a tour, 57 victories and six titles in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, is lying on the heels of bright rival Jannik Sinner for the number 1 place in the PIF ATP ranking. The Spaniard could reclaim that position for the first time since September 2023 if he matches or enlarges the result of Sinner in New York.
Sinner, title defender and unbeaten at the Hardcourt Majors since 2023, is in the upper half of the draw and could only be confronted in the champion match opposite Alcaraz.
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