Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are on a collision course for the US Open Semifinals and they will be in the fourth round action on Sunday. Djokovic continues his campaign against Jan-Lennard Struff; Alcaraz is confronted with Arthur Rinder Knech.
(7) Novak Djokovic vs. (Q) Jan-Lennard-Dingen
Djokovic improved to 7-0 in the head-to-head series with Cameron Norrie by beating the British Lefty in four sets on Friday evening. The 38-year-old Serbian is already 7-0 lifespan against Struff on the way to their fourth round matchup on Sunday evening. Djokovic has won 17 of their 18 total sets and only dropped one on the 2020 Australian open. Since then he has broken down 10 sets in a row at the expense of struff due to scores of 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4.
It is difficult to know what to expect from Djokovic when he now takes the court. The 24-way Grand Slam champion had not played since Wimbledon ran the US Open, so it should not be a big surprise that he was far below his best in New York. Djokovic dropped sets to both Norrie and Zachary Svajda, and he didn’t look good in his open student ten. Struff has been rolling in Flushing Meadows for more than a week now. The 144th ranked German qualified for the main table and parlisted that success in the defeats of MacKenzie McDonald, Holger Rune and Frances Tiaafor. Unfortunately for Struff this is a terrible matchup for him. Djokovic has won all seven of their previous encounters, not only because he is clearly the distant superior all-round player, but also because he is one of the best returners in tennis history and has made the habit of dissecting relatively one-dimensional huge batters such as Struff.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
Arthur Rinder Knech vs. (2) Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz and Rinder Knech will face each other for the fourth time in their career and open for the second time at the US. Their very first meeting also came to the Billie Jean King National Tennis, where Alcaraz prevailed with 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 2021. He also did the job twice on the grass courts of Queen’s Club; In a third set of Tiebreaker two years ago and 7-5, 6-4 earlier this summer.
These two boys will no longer be on the head of the court 6. This time it is clear in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Alcaraz lifted the trophy in 2022. The second rank Spaniard lost early last year, but he went to the fourth round this season with straight set victories on Reilly Opelka, Mattia Bellucci, and Luciano Darderi. Rinder Knech played a total of 13 sets against Roberto Carballes Baena, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (five) and Benjamin Bonzi. Marathon Bonzi no longer had gas against Rinder Knech; Now it is Rindernech who will probably do the same against Alacaraz.
Pick: Alcaraz in 3
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