After opening his US Open campaign with back-to-back narrow five-set wins, top seed Alexander Zverev has now strung together consecutive straight-set victories to reach the quarter-finals in New York.
The German has raised his level throughout the fortnight, highlighted by his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over 21st seed Luciano Darderi on Monday. The Italian had troubled Zverev before, dramatically saving four match points to stun the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings in Rome earlier this year.
This year’s Roland Garros champion, Zverev is the only man to reach the quarter-finals of all four majors this season, a feat that the 25-time tour-level titlist has accomplished for the first time in his career.
“I thought my level was very consistent,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “He started playing incredibly well in the third set. I barely saw anyone hit the ball as hard as he did, consistently for an entire set, so credit to him. He made it very difficult for me, but I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals and happy to be playing this way.”
Zverev, 29, delivered a standout serving performance against Darderi, landing 72 per cent of his first serves and winning 86 per cent of points (51/59) behind his hefty first delivery. Zverev fended off the lone break point he faced in the opening set. Despite failing to convert one of his five break chances in the third set, Zverev closed out the match with a convincing tie-break, advancing after two hours and 31 minutes.
“Compared to the first two matches, the level has been going up and, of course, that’s the goal and I’m happy about that,” said Zverev.
Having recorded his 50th tour-level win of the season, Zverev next meets Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who has played back-to-back five-setters. It will be the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
Zverev is chasing his second major title and first at Flushing Meadows. He is into the last eight at the American hard-court major for the fifth time, becoming the sixth active men’s player to reach that mark, joining Novak Djokovic (14), Stan Wawrinka (6), Marin Cilic (5), Daniil Medvedev (5) and Carlos Alcaraz (5).
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