Carlos Alcaraz appears to be in peak form as he continues to advance in the U.S. Open. The Spanish phenom has not lost a set in any of his first four matches in the tournament, and his latest triumph was a 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Arthur Rinderknech.
13 – Carlos Alcaraz has reached a 13th Men’s Singles quarter-final at Grand Slam events, equalling Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker (13 each) for the most of any player before turning 23 in the Open Era. Leader. #USOpen | @usopen @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/bguHyrGIo9
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 31, 2025
Alcaraz has reached the quarterfinal round of his 13th major tournament. He is the youngest player to achieve that level of success at 22 years and 3 months. He is six months younger than Boris Becker was when he reached his 13th quarterfinal. Swedish all-time great Bjorn Borg was also younger than 23 when he reached 13th quarterfinal.
Alcaraz's opponent on Tuesday will be No. 20 Jiri Lehecka, a 23-year-old from the Czech Republic. Lehecka advanced to his second Slam quarterfinal with a 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Adrian Mannarino.
Alcaraz has a 2-1 edge of Lehecka to this point, but the two players have never met in a major tournament.
“He's one of the two biggest challenges right now in tennis,” Lehecka said. “He's moving very well. He can serve big. He knows everything. His game is complete. So for me I will just try to stick to the weapons that I have, to the weapons which worked for me in these last two matchups.”
Sinner appears to be on collision course with Alcaraz
The Spanish superstar is playing sensational tennis, and there are not many players in the U.S. Open who appear capable of pushing him in a five-set match. However, Italian star Jannik Sinner defeated Alcaraz in the Wimbledon Finals, and it appears the two are on track to meet again in the championship round of the New York-based tournament.
Sinner's next match is with Alexander Bublik in the fourth round Monday. Sinner is the top seed in the tournament and he advanced to the fourth round with a four-set victory over Denis Shapovalov. Sinner lost the first set of that match and did not look sharp early, but he picked up his level of play and decisively won the final three sets.
Sinner was victorious in last year's U.S. Open. He has also won the Australian Open in 2024 and '25. He won Wimbledon for the first time in July.
Sinner is used to the pressure that comes from high expectations. “That I have pressure and tension is normal. I've had that for a year, and you need to handle it,” Sinner said. “Either you handle it — or you don't. It's better to have to deal with that than not.”
