By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 2, 2023
In a rematch of the 2022 US Open final, Carlos Alcaraz dismissed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-2 to roll into his 12th semifinal in 14 tournaments this year.
Photo credit: Emmanuel Wong/Getty
Carlos Alcaraz makes first impressions with imposing finality.
In a rematch of the 2022 US Open final, Alcaraz overwhelmed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-2 to roll into his 12th semifinal in 14 tournaments this year.
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Continuing his hunt to surpass Novak Djokovic and regain the world No. 1 ranking, Alcaraz fired 28 winners—21 more than Ruud—and converted 4 of 15 break points.
Playing his Beijing debut, Alcaraz has grown progressively sharper with each round powering into a semifinal against rival Jannik Sinner. The sixth-seeded Sinner fended off former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the final quarterfinal of the evening.
“I’m really, really happy,” Alcaraz told Lee Goodall afterward. “To be able to beat Casper in straight sets it was really, really good. That means the level you are playing has been really tough.
“Big rallies at the beginning during the match has been really tough for me. Really happy with the level to be able to find the solutions from the beginning of the first set. These kind of matches give you extra confidence.”
The top-seeded Spaniard raised his record to 61-7, including a 12-1 mark in Tour-level quarterfinals this season.
Imposing his all-court acumen, Alcaraz bounced back from an 0-2 deficit and battered Ruud’s weaker backhand wing. Alcaraz was an equal-opportunity shotmaker today hitting 11 winners off his forehand and 11 off his backhand.
The last time these two squared off was in the 2022 US Open final.
In a historic Flushing Meadows final with the world No. 1 ranking on the line, Alcaraz announced his arrival as a Grand Slam champion with a masterful performance in his maiden major final.
A dynamic Alcaraz conquered Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 in theUS Open final to capture his first Grand Slam championship and complete a riveting rise as the youngest man in the history of the ATP rankings to rise to world No. 1.
Oozing easy power, Alcaraz lashed a forehand winner down the line for break point in the opening game. Ruud rapped a wide serve to save it.
Piling up the pressure, Alcaraz earned a fourth break point in the opener, but flagged a forehand into net. A crackling rally erupted on the fifth break point before Ruud unloaded a flurry of forehands to fend it off.
Standing tall in an epic 15-minute opening game, Ruud staved off all five break points earning the hard-fought hold.
Though he lost that game, Alcaraz said he felt he made a statement setting a tough tone to let Ruud know every hold would be a battle tonight.
“It was really good for me to start the match like I did. The game on his serve, 12 or 13 minutes, advantage-deuce it was really good,” Alcaraz said. “I showed him that I’m ready for the battle. I’m in a good state.
“I would say that game gave him an idea that was gonna be the match. It was great for me even though he made the break in the next game it was a great effort.”
That spirited stand sparked Ruud to break at 30 when Alcaraz missed an inside-out forehand. Ruud hammered heavy forehands extending to 3-0 after 25 minutes.
Twenty-nine minutes into the match, the Spaniard held to get on the scoreboard.
Ratcheting up pressure again, Alcaraz earned triple break point in the fifth game. Dragging Ruud forehand with a dropper, Alcaraz looped a rainbow lob Ruud could not handle breaking back at love for 2-3.
Facing break point, Alcaraz unleashed the shotmaking carving out a forehand drop shot winner and a slick serve-and-volley that helped him hold for his third straight game.
Seeing Alcaraz elevate his level of play, Ruud was trying to impose his forehand. Instead, Alcaraz flashed a forehand down the line breaking again in the seventh game.
Throwing down his the first love hold of the match, Alcaraz fired through his fifth straight game for a 5-3 lead.
The Wimbledon winner won the final 10 consecutive service points, banging an ace to end the 56-minute opener with a bang.
Speed and precision combined in a combustible sequence as Alcaraz ran down a drive volley and flicked a running forehand down the line that Ruud could not handle. That shot gave Alcaraz the break and a 2-1 second-set lead.
Credit Ruud, who out-dueled Argentinean Tomas Martin Etcheverry 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(7) in a titanic two hour, 57-minute battle yesterday, to continue to extend rallies.
Alcaraz disorientated the Norwegian, who fell to 0-11 lifetime vs. Top 3 opponents, using the drop shot and his front-court skills to create separation. A leaping high-backhand volley from Alcaraz helped him break for the fourth time stretching his lead to 5-2.
Detonating a series of heavy forehands, Alcaraz elicited one final netted backhand to close in one hour, 44-minutes shouting a heart-felt “vamos!” to coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
“Everybody said that it was one of the stronger 500 tournaments that they’ve ever seen so it’s incredible how many top players are playing this tournament,” Alcaraz said. “So I’m very happy to be able to play these kind of matches.
“It’s gonna be a really tough semifinal whether I play Grigor or Jannik it’s gonna be a really difficult one. So I have to be focused on that. I have to be ready for that. I’m really really happy with my level in this round. My level, I think, is improving and my confidence as well.”
A day that started with five Top 10 men in the last eight so two old rivals advance to a semifinal showdown.
World No. 10 Alexander Zverev powered into his third China Open semifinal defeating Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.
Chengdu champion Zverev smacked 13 aces against one double fault and did not drop serve scoring his seventh straight victory.
Olympic gold-medal champion Zverev set up a semifinal vs. familiar foe Daniil Medvedev.
The 2021 US Open champion Medvedev dumped nine double faults and dropped serve four times yet still stopped French left-hander Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
It was Medvedev’s first win over Humbert in three meetings and sends him into his 10th semifinal in 18 tournaments this season.
Medvedev said slow court conditions and balls which fluff up after a four games have left him feeling like he’s playing clay-court tennis on the blue hard court.
“With these balls, it's kind of like playing on clay, we call it,” Medvedev told the media in Beijing. “The only big difference is that the bounce, which is not like on clay, so it's still different, but it's very slow.
“I mean, I lost two times my serve in the first set. I won it. I lost my serve in the third, I won it 6-1. Any other normal hard court with normal balls, no chance I win a match like this. Also no chance I lose so much my serve. Yeah, that's what we have. To make an ace is tough. For him it was the same. I was just returning everything. Not easy.”
The semifinal won’t be easy either. Medvedev has won 9 of 16 meetings against Zverev, including three of their four encounters this season. But Zverev prevailed in their last meeting 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in Cincinnati in August.
“Against Sascha, we played already four times this year, 16 times total. I think probably the most I ever played anyone,” Medvedev said. “Many of our matches are going three sets, long tiebreaks, stuff like this, drama sometimes, whatever.
“Could be an interesting match if we manage to play again because, yeah, it's crazy how many times we played, and always a good match.”