World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz makes light work of Alexander Zverev to book his spot in the US Open semi-final and set up a showdown with No 3 seed Daniil Medvedev on Friday

It took Carlos Alcaraz less than two and a half hours to dispatch the exhausted Alexander Zverev in straight sets to book his place in the semifinals of the US Open in New York.

The world No. 1 was once again in sparkling form to go easy on his German opponent, with players even leaving the pitch before midnight in the Big Apple – a rare feat in the past two weeks.

Alcaraz won the game 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and will face No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev for a spot in Sunday’s final – a duel between the final two Flushing Meadows champions.

There were questions about how prepared Zverev would be to take on the energetic Alcaraz after playing the longest match of the tournament – a nearly five-hour, five-set marathon in tough conditions on Monday against Jannik Sinner.

2020 US Open finalist Zverev came ready to fight, but the tank quickly emptied. The twelfth seed couldn’t keep pace as Alcaraz stepped on the gas to pull away for an easy win.

Alcaraz only had four break point opportunities throughout the game, but made them all count.

“He (Zverev) had a very hard time, he worked very hard to get back to his best and in the end we all see him show his best tennis,” said Alcaraz.

“We enjoy his game, so we’re very happy to have him back.”

On another hot, steamy day, with temperatures in the mid-1990s Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), Medvedev reached the final four by beating eighth seed Andrei Rublev 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, but he was not happy playing in such difficult conditions. conditions.

“You can’t imagine, one player dies and then they’ll see it,” he told the camera as he wiped off the sweat in the third set.

By the time Alcaraz and Zverev showed up at Arthur Ashe for the late game, much of the sting had been taken out of the unforgiving conditions.

Zverev, who managed to find the target with his flourishing service, was able to keep up with Alcaraz during the first part of the first set.

Alcaraz took advantage of his only break opportunity from the opener to get up 5-3 and then quickly held serve to take control.

As Zverev’s resistance subsided, Alcaraz broke again early in second and delighted the crowd with a climax taking reel shots and spinning his racket like a baton.

Another break to take the lead 5-2 and a service serve left Alcaraz with a big smile and Zverev asking for a medical timeout.

He returned for the third set with a badly tied groin and battled bravely until Alcaraz caught another late break before serving out for the win.