Carlos Alcaraz overcomes knee scare to advance to fourth round at US Open

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Aug 29, 2025

Published in Tennis

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NEW YORK — Not much can stop Carlos Alcaraz these days, but a bothersome right knee caused a scare during Friday’s third-round match at the US Open.

The Spanish superstar called a medical timeout and received a visit from the physiotherapist during the second set of his 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Italy’s Luciano Darderi at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The short stoppage occurred after Alcaraz took a 5-4 lead in the set. He had led, 4-1, before dropping three consecutive games, including one in which Darderi broke his serve.

“The game that he broke my serve, on the last point after the serve, the first step, I just felt something in the knee,” Alcaraz said.

“After five, six points, it was gone. I was worried after that. That’s why I asked for the physio, but it was nothing serious, so just for precaution. After that, I didn’t feel it anymore.”

That proved to be the biggest adversity Alcaraz would face.

The 22-year-old did not lose another game Friday and is now headed to the fourth round, where he’s set to face France’s Arthur Rinderknech on Sunday.

Alcaraz, the world’s second-ranked men’s player, has not dropped a set in this year’s tournament at Flushing Meadows.

He needed only an hour and 44 minutes to eliminate Darderi, despite the match starting at 11:30 a.m., much earlier than Alcaraz’s customary prime-time slot.

“I just went to bed at 11, 11:15. That for me is really weird, to be honest, which I am really proud about,” Alcaraz said with a grin. “I woke at 7 in the morning just to be ready to warm up well, feeling awake, and feeling good. So it was an unusual time for me, but at the same time it’s good, because I’m already done with everything.”

The Open remains a special event for Alcaraz, who won the tournament in 2022 for his first Grand Slam title. That victory made Alcaraz, who was just 19 at the time, the youngest man to top the ATP rankings.

But Alcaraz suffered a stunning second-round upset at last year’s Open, losing in straight sets to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.

Alcaraz has acknowledged that the thought of last year’s stunner stuck with him, but he’s appeared as focused as ever through three rounds this year.

Sporting a pink kit and a shaved head after his brother botched his haircut, Alcaraz delivered nine aces, won seven of 18 break points and committed only 12 unforced errors Friday. The 32nd-seeded Darderi never led by even a game as Alcaraz repeatedly demonstrated his elite body control and ingenuity to extend rallies and finish tough shots.

“I’m just trying not to do the same things as last year,” Alcaraz said. “Trying to improve and do things much better. Every time that I step on the court, I’m just locked in since the first point until the last one. Yeah, I’m taking last year as motivation coming into this year to be more hungry, ambitious to do great things here. This is a place that I love playing.”

Alcaraz seeks the sixth Grand Slam title of his career and his second of 2025. He beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy in the French Open final in June.

Sinner, 24, and Alcaraz have combined to win the last seven Grand Slam tournaments and eight of the last nine. This year’s Open could become the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament in which Alcaraz and Sinner meet in the final.

They’ve faced each other at the Open only once before, when Alcaraz defeated Sinner in the 2022 quarterfinal en route to his historic championship.

“[Since] that match, people have talked about our rivalry,” Alcaraz said Friday. “And I think from that match, our rivalry had a place in tennis history. It’s just great, and thanks to that match, I grew up a lot.”