Zverev romps into quarter-finals

NEW YORK:

Top seed Alexander Zverev romped into the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday with a straight sets defeat of Italy's Luciano Darderi.

Zverev, who had been taken to five sets in his opening two matches of the tournament, raced past 21st seed Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) in 2hr 30mins on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The brisk victory came as a welcome change for Zverev, whose marathon first and second round matches had finished in the early hours of the morning.

"I don't know what to do with myself because it's before midnight," Zverev quipped afterwards. "I might go back to the practice court, I might go to a bar -- that was a joke, unfortunately.

"Compared to the first two matches, the level has been going up."

The 29-year-old French Open champion was in complete control throughout, punishing Darderi's woeful service game to grab an early double break in the first set for a 3-0 lead.

Darderi, who has failed to go further than the fourth round at any Grand Slam in his career, never looked like forcing his way back into the set thereafter.

Zverev mopped up the first set easily and was soon back on the attack in the second, once again securing a quick double-break for a 3-0 lead before holding with ease to go two sets up.

Darderi did manage to rally in the third set, suddenly finding his range with some blistering forehands and holding off four break points in the 11th game to help set up a tie-break.

But Zverev's superior service game meant there was only going to be one winner in the tie-break, a thunderous serve giving him a 5-2 lead before a scorching forehand into the corner took him to match point.

Zverev then wrapped up victory with his 13th ace of the match.

"I thought my level was very consistent," Zverev said. 

"It was just he started playing incredibly well in the third set. I barely saw anyone hit the ball as hard consistently as he did in the third set," added the German, who will now face Dutch veteran Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarter-finals.

Zandschulp saves match point 

Botic van de Zandschulp rallied from two sets down to beat Arthur Gea 3-6, 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and return to the US Open quarter-finals on Monday.

The Dutch veteran denied 21-year-old Gea a slice of Grand Slam history. The French player had been vying to become the first men's lucky loser to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final.

A dozen lucky losers -- players who lost in qualifying but made it into the draw when someone withdrew -- had made it to the round of 16 at this level, but none had gone further.

Gea, ranked 87th in the world, lost in the final round of qualifying but reached the main draw when 18th-seeded Casper Ruud withdrew with a back injury.

He nearly broke through, but the Netherlands' van de Zandschulp saved a match point in the third set and almost two hours later sealed a win that put him into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2021.

The five-hour, 13-minute marathon was just shy of the record-longest US Open match, Dan Evans's five-hour, 35-minute first-round victory over Karen Khachanov in 2024.

An exhausted van de Zandschulp told the crowd he didn't know how he did it.

"No clue actually," the 30-year-old said. "Crazy comeback -- five hours, 15 minutes, still standing, so that's a good thing.

"I think this is probably even better than the first quarter-final I made here," added van de Zandschulp. "It's been some tough years, but started to play better this year again.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I think tomorrow it's going to be a great feeling."

Next up for van de Zandschulp could be top-seeded Alexander Zverev.

The Dutch player has some history with upsets at the US Open. In 2024 he stunned then third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the second round.