Alcaraz Sets Fourth-Round Showdown With Paul At US Open

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 5, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is through to the second week at the 2026 US Open after winning his third-straight match this week on Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday afternoon, defeating 113th-ranked Wu Yibing of China, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, in two hours and 20 minutes.

The World No. 3 and second-seeded Alcaraz has strung together 17 consecutive major wins, including 10 straight at the US Open. Coming back after a four-month absence due to a right wrist injury, the 23-year-old Spaniard, round-by-round, is getting his groove back.

Against Wu, Alcaraz hit 21 winners to overcome 33 unforced errors and converted seven of 15 break-point chances. Alcaraz outpointed his opponent 109-86. He closed out Friday’s third-round victory with his sixth ace.

“I think today there was a really high rhythm,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview. “The way he plays is unbelievable, the rhythm he has on every shot: forehand, backhand. His balls skid a lot on the court and, for me, it’s really difficult to control sometimes. But I think I stayed there. I played aggressive, I played smart in the toughest moments.”

Next, Alcaraz will face No. 20 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, who rallied from two-sets-to-one down to gut out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 15 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in three hours and 13 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

In a rematch of last year’s third round, won by Bublik in five sets, Paul improved his career head-to-head against Bublik to 4-1. He’s through to the fourth round of the US Open for the third time in the last four years – and his triumph over Bublik is his first Top-20 victory at the US Open.

Paul hit 44 winners to 35 unforced errors and outpointed Bublik 153-131.

Sabalenka remains focused going after third-straight US Open title

Two-time defending champion and this year’s No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka has marched through the first week of this year’s US Open draw in fine fashion. Friday afternoon on Louis Armstrong Stadium, in her ninth main draw appearance at Flushing Meadows, Sabalenka advanced to the second week for the sixth-straight year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 92 Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan in 89 minutes.

Looking to become the first player to win three consecutive titles at the US Open since Serena Williams in 2012-14, Sabalenka struck 29 winners – including 10 aces – and outpointed Rakhimova 76-55 en route to recording her 43rd win of the season.

“It’s been a long journey,” Sabalenka said during her on-court interview, describing the player she was early in her career. “I had to work so hard to change a lot of things in my game, to add a lot of things in my game to be able to compete at the highest level.

“If someone would tell me where it would lead me in, like, I don’t know, 10 years from that period, I would be so shocked and probably super motivated, of course, to hear that,” she added.

Next, Sabalenka will face 96th-ranked Taylor Townsend of the United States, who upset No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3, in two hours and 28 minutes on Stadium 17 in back of 39 winners and five breaks of her opponent’s serve to advance to the second week of the US Open for the second-straight year. It will be the first meeting between Sabalenka and Townsend.

“You guys don’t understand, I’ve been through so much over this year,” Townsend said during her on-court interview. “I honestly was so nervous coming into this tournament because I knew that I made the fourth round last year. I didn’t want my ranking to drop. I wanted to prove that I was just as good this year as I was last year.”

Chan and Joint go the distance to upset Williams sisters

Both teams – Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Maya Joint of Australia and two-time US Open champions Venus and Serena Williams of the United States– left it all out on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium. By the end of their three hour and two minute thriller, the 14th-seeded team of Chan and Joint defeated the Williams sisters, who received a wild card into the women’s doubles draw,  6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7), to advance to the second round.

 

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While the play at times was less than stellar, there was still plenty of excitement from start to finish. Chan and Joint outpointed the Williams sisters 90-88, winning more points on returns (49) than on their serve (41).

Both Venus and Serena, who shared 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, smiled and waved goodbye to the crowd as they walked off, while Chan and Joint will face Nicole Fossa Huergo of Argentina and Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the second round.

Another late night on Arthur Ashe Stadium with Zverev

In each of his first two matches at this year’s US Open, men’s top seed Alexander Zverev has played over four hours (4:53 against Lorenzo Sonego, 4:33 against Quentin Halys). The first match ended just before 2 a.m. New York Time, while the second one extended Zverev to 2:15 a.m. Both matches required five sets to decide the outcome.

The World No. 2 Zverev, who is reigning French Open champion and a 2020 US Open finalist, was asked how it felt to be the No. 1 seed at Flushing Meadows.

“Well, it’s great until you almost lose every single time!” Zverev said. “No, it’s special but I’ve said it before, it doesn’t matter who or what seeding you are, it matters who is at the end of the draw. And I’m asking towards that. I’m still in it.

“I’m still there and hopefully I can give you another great show in two day’s time.”

Zverev will face No. 25 seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile in the second match of the Saturday night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium, following Eala-mania featuring Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, seeded 17th, against No. 14 seed Iva Jovic of the United States, in the opening match.

Around the US Open

Men’s notable results:

• Six years after winning the 2021 US Open title, Daniil Medvedev of Russia leads all players in hard-court wins this decade (244) and has reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the seventh time in the last eight years following his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 26 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France in one hour and 59 minutes Friday afternoon on the Grandstand.

The No. 7-seeded Medvedev, who hasn’t dropped a set through the first three rounds, won 85 percent (35 of 41) of his first-serve points, hit 10 aces and 23 winners overall and converted four of five break points. He outpointed Rinderknech 88-70. It all added up to his 35th victory of the 2026 season.

Next, Medvedev will face No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States, who improved to 9-0 lifetime on Louis Armstrong Stadium following his 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, in one hour and 59 minutes.  Tiafoe, who hit 30 winners and outpoined Vacherot 110-72, is through to the US Open fourth round for the sixth time. He’s the third player to reach the 40-victory plateau on the ATP Tour this season, joining Alexander Zverev (48) and Jannik Sinner (44).

• No. 53 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece garnered his first trip to the US Open fourth round after defeating No. 18 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in two hours and 33 minutes on the Grandstand for his second Top-20 triumph this week after taking out No. 10 seed Arthur Fils of France in the first round on Monday. 

Tsitsipas struck 34 winners – including 12 aces – and took advantage of 41 unforced errors by Lehecka. He converted five of nine break points and outpointed Lehecka 115-96.

Next, Tsitsipas will face either No. 8 seed Ben Shelton of the United States or No. 48 Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who played later Friday evening on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

• On Stadium 17, 22-year-old American Alex Michelsen reached his first US Open fourth round after taking out No. 39 Daniel Merida of Spain, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and nine minutes.

Next, the 46th-ranked Michelsen will face No. 27 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, who eliminated fellow Argentine Mariano Navone, ranked 49th, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and 26 minutes on Court 11. 

Women’s notable results:

• No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States rallied to defeat No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and 11 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday afternoon in a matchup of former US Open finalists – Pegula in 2024 and Fernandez in 2021.

The 32-year-old American No. 1 advanced to the second week of the US Open for the fifth-straight year and it’s the 13th time in all Grand Slams. Pegula also improved to 4-1 overall against Fernandez – 2-0 in 2026. Pegula drew even with fellow American Coco Gauff in recording her tour-leading 11th win from a set down this season.

“I always feel like it’s really tough to play her,” Pegula said of Fernandez, during her on-court interview. “I never feel comfortable when I’m playing her, even when I’ve won, so I knew that today, especially with the way I started, I was going to have to dig deep. Really glad I was able to find something there, especially in the second set, to turn it around.”

Next, Pegula will face No. 16 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 19 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in one hour and 15 minutes on Stadium 17. It will be the fifth time Pegula has met Cirstea in a rivalry that dates back to 2011.

After announcing this would be her final year on the WTA Tour, the World No. 17 Cirstea has put together one of her best seasons. Against Paolini, whom she beat for the fourth time in four meetings, Cirstea hit 17 winners and outpointed her opponent 70-48 to advance to the second week of the US Open for the second time after reaching the quarterfinals in 2023. 

Cirstea was asked during her on-court interview if she is playing freer knowing it’s her last time competing at the US Open.

“I don’t know if it freed me up. What I can say is I’m having the time of my life,” she said. “I love tennis and I love to compete. I love to play in front of all the fans. It’s an absolute joy to call tennis my job. I’m so grateful for everything.” 

• No. 11 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, in 77 minutes on Grandstand for her 35th victory of the season. In her seventh main-draw appearance at the US Open, Kostyuk has equaled her best result at Flushing Meadows. She improved to 11-7 against Top-20 opponents this season after outpointing Alexandrova 67-48.

 

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Next, Kostyuk will face this year’s Wimbledon champion and No. 6 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia, who held off No. 29 seed Ann Li of the United States, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2, in two hours and 18 minutes on Stadium 17 to reach the US Open fourth round for the first time. Noskova had a match point in the second set tiebreaker but closed it out 6-2 in the third. She has won 10 straight Grand Slam matches.

• No. 26 seed Emma Navarro of the United States, a US Open semifinalist two years ago, upset No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who was a finalist at Wimbledon earlier this summer and a US Open semifinalist each of the past two years, 6-3, 7-5, in one hour and 47 minutes on Grandstand. The victory was Navarro’s third in four matches against Top-10 players this season.

“She’s a great player and has had a great year this year. A lot of really good results,” Navarro said during her on-court interview. “I knew it would be tough today. She has a more unique game style on the WTA tour. Definitely unique matchup. But I enjoyed it. I had fun playing today. I’m looking forward to playing again in a few days.”

Next, Navarro will face either No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine or No. 21 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, who played later Friday evening on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Friday’s US Open results

Saturday’s US Open order of play

By the numbers

• Jessica Pegula of the United States is the fourth-oldest player in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach five-plus consecutive women’s singles round of 16 at the US Open, younger only than Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

• Alexander Zverev of Germany has spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court through his opening two matches of this year’s US Open. It’s the longest time any top seed has needed to reach the third round of a major since 1999.

“Quotable …”

“I’m better than I thought. Physically, I thought I was going to be dead after the first match. But I’m recovering really well. I’m doing great things off the court just to be in good shape. Right now, I think my level is really good. I’ve got into the rhythm of the competition. Every time I step on the court, I give it my all.”

– World No. 3 and second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, during his on-court interview Friday after advancing to the fourth round with a straight-set victory over Wu Yibing of China.

 

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