Alcaraz crushes Darderi, Rybakina routs Raducanu in US Open

NEW YORK: Second seed Carlos Alcaraz overcame a mid-match worry over his knee to swat aside Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-2 6-4 6-0 in third round, claiming his 80th Grand Slam win.

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Similarly, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina demolished Britain’s Emma Raducanu to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the first time on Friday.

The Moscow-born ninth seed from Kazakhstan, whose previous best result in New York was a pair of third round appearances, overpowered Raducanu to win 6-1, 6-2 in one hour two minutes.

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Meanwhile, top seed Italian Jannik Sinner will meet 27th seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the third round clash.

In the women’s draw, Poland’s Iga Swiatek is facing Anna Kalinskaya — the 29th seed from Russia — in her bid to reach the fourth round.

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HAD NO ANSWER

“Throughout the whole years, for some reason the US Open wasn’t a success for me but hopefully this year that will change,” Rybakina said in her on-court interview.

The unseeded Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, had looked in confident form en route to Friday’s clash with Rybakina on the Louis Armstrong Stadium showcourt.

But the 22-year-old was in trouble from the outset against Rybakina, the Kazakh breaking her serve right away to seize the early advantage.

Raducanu had no answer to Rybakina’s superior power as the Kazakh reeled off a series of thumping forehand winners before completing a convincing win.

Rybakina is playing in New York with controversial coach Stefano Rukov restored to her viewing box after the WTA lifted a suspension against the Croat earlier this month.

Vukov had been barred from attending all tournaments by the WTA after being found to have breached the tour’s code of conduct.

He had been fired by Rybakina just before last year’s US Open, and subsequently bombarded the player with requests to return which left her fearing for her safety according to details of a WTA investigation reported by The Athletic.

Vukov was banned for a year in January after the WTA ruled he had engaged in “abuse of authority and abusive behaviour” towards Rybakina.

However, Rybakina subsequently reunited with Vukov, who has coached her this season between events. He was allowed to return to courtside at the Cincinnati Open after successfully appealing against his suspension.

‘GREAT PERFORMANCE IN GENERAL’

The Spaniard has been on an extraordinary run, with a 42-2 record since April, and pushed on after taking a second-set medical timeout on Arthur Ashe Stadium to set up a meeting with either Benjamin Bonzi or Arthur Rinderknech, both of France.

“It’s just a precaution that I asked for the physio,” Alcaraz said after the match, tamping down concerns. “I’m feeling good.”

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The 2022 champion took control of the first set immediately, breaking Darderi with a forehand winner in the second game and again on set point when his opponent hit the ball into the net.

Darderi had three double faults before dropping serve with a backhand error in the fourth game of the second set but found his competitive spirit when he broke back from the baseline in the seventh.

Alcaraz took a medical timeout with the physio after the ninth game, telling the staff member that he had begun to feel something wrong with his right knee earlier in the set.

The concern was short-lived as Darderi committed another double-fault on set point and Alcaraz then broke with an expertly placed backhand and a forehand winner in the second and fourth games of the final set.

“I just played such great tennis, great performance in general, so I’m just really proud about it,” said Alcaraz, who took the win as Darderi put the ball out on match point.