Alexander Zverev worked very hard to secure the US Open quarter-final, and his reward is taking on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The German certainly likes these types of matches and wants to play them, but there is only one player he'd less likely want to play realistically at the US Open - Novak Djokovic. It just speaks volumes about how good Carlos Alcaraz was.
Both of them had fine performances to make the quarter-finals. Alcaraz downed Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets, while Alexander Zverev needed five to defeat Jannik Sinner. Zverev spent much more time on the court, and his match ended later in the day, giving Alcaraz a minor advantage.
Even without that, the Spaniard would have been favoured against Zverev due to the way each approach tennis. Alcaraz is far more aggressive and takes the ball early, which Zverev can struggle against. Sascha covers the court really well, but that works best on clay. On a faster surface like this, it puts him in a much harder position and with heavy legs, well, it's not looking promising.
Head-to-head:
We've seen this battle a few times already on the ATP Tour, and interestingly, it's Zverev who is on top. He leads it 3-2 but more recently, it's been Alcaraz who had more success. They battled two times on hard courts, and Zverev won both of those.
It's been a while since then as they happeneed in 2021 and Alcaraz is a far better player since then.
Prediction:
Obviously, this match could go either way, as we have two fine players who can beat anybody on their best day. Alcaraz does have an advantage in having more time to recover and spending less time on the court in the previous match.
There is no way Zverev won't feel fatigued after that 4-hour battle, and that's all Alcaraz might really need. He apparently has physical issues of his own, so perhaps it balances itself out. Even so, I like this matchup for Alcaraz, and I think he'll win.
Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz to win in three sets.
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