Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

Gilles Cervara is well aware of the challenge his player, Daniil Medvedev, will face Friday when he plays defending champion and top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. According to the Frenchman, players need to find a level beyond their best to compete with the likes of the Spaniard.

“To beat the best you have to play probably over your level, you have to find something different. You have to be in almost the best day of your year, and you have to create the conditions for this,” Cervara told ATPTour.com. “I think and I really believe as a person and as a coach that you have to find something deeper inside yourself, to be someone stronger and stronger.

“If I use an example, you probably know Dragon Ball Z. Superhero. You have to find this power inside yourself to be like a superhero, to be over the best you can do. That's what I think. And sports in general, I've always seen this all over the years. The No. 1 is almost unbeatable but someone is able to play over his best this day to beat him. And I think tomorrow is the day like this.”

In other words, a player needs to go into Super Saiyan mode. Medvedev will try to do just that as he tries to level his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz at 2-2.

“I really believe that it's really possible if you find this energy, this mentality, this fire,” Cervara said. “Of course in your game, your game becomes stronger and stronger and then your opponent looks not to be at his best this day also because you are over this.

Friday’s blockbuster US Open semi-finals are both a study in contrasts.

In the feature night match under lights, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz pits his explosive attacking game against the rock-solid defensive skills of World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev as both chase a second title at Flushing Meadows.

But first on Arthur Ashe Stadium, 20-year-old American Ben Shelton, who is competing in his first major semi-final, stakes his youth and devastating left-handed serve against the game's pre-eminent returner and Grand Slam titles record holder Novak Djokovic, 16 years his senior.

ATPTour.com looks ahead to the intriguing battles.

[1] Carlos Alcaraz vs. [3] Daniil Medvedev

After Carlos Alcaraz exploited his deep-court returning position with a series of serve/volley plays and signature drop shots in the Indian Wells final in March, Daniil Medvedev was asked pre-tournament in Miami if he would stand closer to return the next time he played the Spaniard. Not after one defeat, he responded. But maybe if the strategy failed multiple times.

When Madison Keys arrived home from Roland Garros this year following a second-round loss, she asked her fiancé, Bjorn Fratangelo, for help. The American’s coach had split with her after Charleston and she competed in Europe alone.

“It didn't go so well. She had some tough losses, and she came home and asked for my help. And the first thing I said was like, ‘Are you sure?’” Fratangelo told ATPTour.com. “Because we've done a great job of kind of staying out of each other's careers over the seven years we've been together. And she said yes.”

Since the Monday of the second week of Roland Garros, Fratangelo has served as Keys’ coach. The former No. 99 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is still an active player and recently qualified for the ATP 500 event in Washington, but has been focussed on helping the US Open semi-finalist.

“I'm honestly pretty chronically injured. D.C. just happened to be because the list dropped,” Fratangelo said. “I hadn't really been practising, if I'm going to be completely honest.”

The 30-year-old figured he might as well take the opportunity to compete there. But the World No. 638’s performance in Washington was not the start of a surge back towards the top of the sport.

An exciting two weeks at the US Open has clinched key milestones for several rising stars on the ATP Tour, most notably American Ben Shelton. The 20-year-old has produced a career-best performance to climb 28 spots to a career-high No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The 2022 NCAA singles champion, who was No. 173 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this time last year, will clash against Novak Djokovic in Friday's semi-finals. Shelton is the youngest US Open men's semi-finalist since Michael Chang in 1992.

Italian Matteo Arnaldi is another bright young star who enjoyed a standout run at the American Slam, launching himself inside the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings for the first time. A competitor at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, the 22-year-old survived Frenchman Arthur Fils in five sets and upset 16th seed Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round.

[ATP APP]

Dominic Stricker made a splash at Flushing Meadows by stunning seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set, second-round match. The Swiss lefty struck 78 winners throughout the four-hour, 10-minute encounter and maintained his form to make the fourth round, setting him up for a Top 100 debut on Monday.

India's Rohan Bopanna has returned to the US Open final 13 years after his first appearance in the title match, teaming with Australian Matthew Ebden to defeat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in Thursday's semi-finals.

The duo saved a break point on Ebden's serve at 2-4 to avoid going down a double break in the first set, which they eventually captured in a tie-break. They claimed two breaks in the final set to close out the match 7-6(3), 6-2, hitting 36 winners to 19 from the Frenchmen.

“When we held after saving a break point to avoid going down a double break in the first set, that was really important,” Bopanna said. “We got some great energy from the crowd. Back in the final 13 years later for me, so I’m very happy.”

A winner of 24 tour-level doubles titles, Bopanna is looking for his first Grand Slam title at the age of 43. In 2010 he and Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi finished runners-up to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the US Open final.

Ebden won the 2022 Wimbledon doubles title with Max Purcell, with whom he also reached the 2022 Australian Open doubles final.

Remember the name Daniel Rincon.

For tennis fans that are tuned into junior Slam results, they will already be familiar with Rincon, who won the 2021 US Open boys’ singles title. Now the 20-year-old is rising on the ATP Challenger Tour, having reached four semi-finals in his past six events.

Three months before Rincon won the junior crown at Flushing Meadows, he was walking across the stage at the Rafa Nadal Academy as a graduate of the 2021 class. Throughout his time in Mallorca, Rincon soaked in valuable lessons, perhaps no experience more memorable than training with fellow lefty, 22-time major champion Nadal.

[ATP APP]

“He gives a lot of importance to footwork, going in and back the whole time, not just staying in the same place,” Rincon told the ATP Challenger Tour media team last week. “I think during the four, five years that I got the chance to practice with him being at the academy, that's the most important thing that he says to me almost every day, so I take it very seriously and I try to improve it a lot.

Before players hit the courts at the US Open, they hit the classroom.

The ATP Business Education Programme, an educational initiative in collaboration with LALIGA Business School (the educational department of LALIGA) launched in May, came to a conclusion in New York ahead of the US Open.

“It was valuable for us to be there at this course. I hope we can do it more,” said Marcelo Melo, a former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.“Every single player who was there appreciated a lot the ATP making this possible, and I hope we can do another one. I learned a lot, many things that I had no opportunity to [learn] before.”

The programme came to a close with a two-day classroom session in New York in a special setting: the NBA Headquarters. Not only did the players enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour there, but also a session and behind-the-scenes tour at Madison Square Garden.

The special opportunity brought to a conclusion four months of studies comprising 30 tuition hours with more than 20 ATP players enrolled. The programme was designed to build current ATP players’ knowledge of the sports industry and help them to develop their skills ahead of their post-playing careers.

One of the major storylines of the 2023 season has been the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Alexander Zverev has had a taste of both players excellent form across the American hard-court swing.

Having fallen in two tight sets to eventual Djokovic at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last month, the German was beaten in straight sets by Alcaraz on Wednesday as his promising US Open run was ended at the quarter-final stage. Zverev was unable to identify a clear leader in terms of level within Alcaraz and Djokovic's Lexus ATP Heaf2Head rivalry but is in no doubt that the chasing pack has some work to do to catch the pair up.

“I played Novak in Cincinnati, I played Carlos here. I think they are very, very similar from the level of the game," said Zverev in his post-match press conference at Flushing Meadows. "There are some things that Novak does better; there are some things that Carlos does better.

“I think they are at a level of their own at the moment. The other guys gotta catch up. That's as simple as that.”

Alcaraz delivered a top-class quarter-final display in New York to continue his US Open title defence in style, but Zverev’s challenge to the Spaniard was hampered from the second set onwards by a problem with his left glute.

The pressure of competing as defending champion at a Grand Slam for the first time has done little to throw Carlos Alcaraz off course this US Open.

The Spaniard eased to a straight-sets quarter-final victory against 12th seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday night, a stark contrast to his five hour, 15-minute triumph against Jannik Sinner at the same stage at Flushing Meadows a year ago. Yet it is not just the manner of his win against Zverev that has the top seed feeling confident as he prepares to meet Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.

“I'm more mature now. I grew up a lot since last year,” said Alcaraz in his post-match press conference. “Last year I was facing my first semi-final of a Grand Slam. Now I'm facing my fourth one. I feel like I'm a totally different player.

“It doesn't matter that last year I got my first Grand Slam, that I won my first semi-final and final of a Grand Slam. I feel like I'm more mature. I deal better with the pressure in those kinds of moments. I feel like I'm different, a different person and a different player.”

Alcaraz’s mental approach of treating the majors like he does any other tournament has helped him handle the hype this fortnight in New York. His form at Flushing Meadows, where he has dropped just one set en route to the last four, has been a continuation of a scintillating 2023 season for the 20-year-old, who is now the owner of a Tour-leading 58-6 record.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz has moved to within two wins of successfully defending his US Open title after winning a heavy-hitting quarter-final battle 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 with top-ranked German Alexander Zverev Wednesday night in New York.

Looking to claim the prized Wimbledon-US Open double in the same season, the 20-year-old will face 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in Friday’s semi-finals, with a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 final showdown with Novak Djokovic remaining a distinct possibility.

“I’m very, very comfortable playing in this court, playing here in New York. I am showing my best level here,” Alcaraz said.

“Last year was very tough, since the fourth round I played five sets [to get to the final]. Here I’ve played just one match that has gone to four sets. I feel great physically and I’m ready to play a great battle with Medvedev in the semi-finals.”

Although Zverev attempted to match Alcaraz’s power from the baseline, the Spaniard’s variety, speed and fresh legs gave him the edge over the German, who two days earlier toiled for four hours, 41 minutes to defeat Jannik Sinner in five sets, which marked just his second victory over a Top 10 player in Grand Slam play. In contrast, Alcaraz spent less than two hours on court in a straight-sets win over Matteo Arnaldi.

Ben Shelton in his first full season on the ATP Tour has shown countless time he loves engaging with fans and harnessing their energy on the court. When at his best, he holds the crowd in the palm of his hand and not only competes, but entertains.

According to his father and coach, former World No. 55 Bryan Shelton, a key has been learning how to identify when to flip on his intensity.

“We always talk about switching it on and switching it off, and the ability to do those two things is really important. You think about Tiger Woods and he makes this amazing shot and then he kind of just glides down the fairway. He switches off until he has to get to the ball and assess the situation and then he switches back on and gets into his routine,” Shelton said. “For Ben, it's like he's so playful and he has all this personality, that he's pretty good at switching on and switching off. It's getting better and better.

“He's able to relax and just be himself, and then when it's time to really focus and turn it on, he's able to do that a lot better right now.”

Even in pressure moments, Shelton has shown the ability to find the right mix. After two devastating double faults in the third-set tie-break of his quarter-final against Frances Tiafoe, the 20-year-old maintained his aggression and crushed a forehand return winner to avoid going down two sets to one.

Daniil Medvedev is always transparent about how he is feeling during a tournament. If the former World No. 1 is playing well, he will say so and if not, he never hesitates to admit it. After defeating Andrey Rublev on Wednesday to reach the US Open quarter-finals, Medvedev graded himself a 10 out of 10.

But with a potential semi-final showdown against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz looming — if the Spaniard eliminates Alexander Zverev — Medvedev knows that might not be good enough.

“It needs to be 11 out of 10 because that's how Carlos is, very strong,” Medvedev said. “Even here I think he lost one set but I watched some matches, sometimes on break points he runs for the passing shots. Incredible stuff.”

Medvedev has proven that at his best he can beat anyone in the world. That is why he was able to climb to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, win a Grand Slam tournament at the 2021 US Open and claim six ATP Masters 1000 trophies. But will his best be enough if he takes on Alcaraz?

“I want to think that it's enough, because I'm playing amazing,” Medvedev said. “I said it on the court. I feel like starting from the third set against [Christopher] O’Connell, guys have been playing brutally good against me.”

Advancing to a major semi-final is great. Facing Novak Djokovic when you get there, however, is not ideal.

Of all Djokovic’s accomplishments in recent years, one of the most unfathomable might be his record in the semi-finals of Grand Slam tournaments. That is bad news for his next opponent, Ben Shelton.

Djokovic has won 21 of his past 22 major semi-finals dating back to the 2015 Australian Open. His only loss during that stretch came in 2019 at Roland Garros, where Dominic Thiem needed five sets over four hours and 13 minutes to eliminate the Serbian.

Nine of the players Djokovic has defeated in major semi-finals have been inside the Top 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Ten of his victories during the stretch have come in straight sets.

By defeating Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals, he advanced to a record 47th major semi-final. In his previous 46 appearances this deep at a Grand Slam event, Djokovic has tallied a 35-11 record (76.1%).

Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect US Open quarter-final record on Wednesday when he moved past long-time friend Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in New York for the fourth time.

Competing in 34-degree heat, both players struggled in the humid conditions. Medvedev received two medical timeouts due to the temperature, with both players spending large periods of the match bent over after lung-busting rallies on Arthur Ashe Stadium. While Rublev pushed Medvedev, the 27-year-old rallied to overcome the elements and Rublev in two hours and 48 minutes.

"It was brutal. The only good thing I see in these conditions is that both suffer," Medvedev said. "It was tough for both of us. There were some ups and downs but that is so normal. At the end of the first set I sort of could not see the ball anymore. I played with sensations."

Medvedev fell behind an early break in all three sets but quickly recovered to control the crucial moments on his terms. The third seed used his long leavers to retrieve Rublev’s thunderous groundstrokes, while he moved the World No. 8 from side to side, wearing down the 25-year-old in the heat to seal victory on his fifth match point.

"I tried to go for it, tried to run and he did the same," Medvedev said. "Before points I was like, 'Wow, he can't run anymore', so I tried to go and make him run and run and run, but he was there all the time. But we were tired all the time. Brutal conditions and super tough to win."

Not setting foot on court to train on a rest day at a Grand Slam might seem unwise, but it is one of the routines that works best for Carlos Alcaraz, and one of the keys to many of his triumphs.

The Spaniard will play on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the US Open against Alexander Zverev without having practised on Tuesday. He used the same routine before playing his fourth-round clash with Matteo Arnaldi, and it is one he has employed at many events throughout his career.

“There are days when I dedicate my time to fitness and not tennis,” explained the Spaniard, who has a 15-1 record in the season’s final Grand Slam, where he is defending the title he claimed in 2022, his first major and the key that opened the door for him to become the youngest No. 1 ever in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “There are a lot of days when I prefer to work on load training and fitness, rather than practise tennis.”

Not practising on a rest day at a tournament is not something Alcaraz is trying for the first time at this US Open, far from it. Last year, at Flushing Meadows, the Spaniard chose not to pick up his racquet the day between matches. It was a roadmap that allowed him to come through the demands of three consecutive five-set matches unscathed; the fourth round against Marin Cilic, the quarter-finals against Jannik Sinner and the semi-finals against Frances Tiafoe. This year, at Roland Garros, he did not practise a single time between matches, nor did he at Wimbledon as the final rounds approached (before his semi-final and final).

“Mentally, getting tired of winning, of travelling to play tennis, I’m not worried about that because I know it won’t happen to me. What really worries me, so to speak, or what might be a concern for me in the future, is injuries,” explained Alcaraz, all too aware of what he has to do to stay fit in the face of the demands of playing at the very top of the game.

Andrey Rublev will face a monumental challenge on Wednesday when he takes to the court to do battle with Daniil Medvedev in the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings has never progressed past the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam, despite having reached the round eight times in his career prior to Wednesday.

“Of course, he hasn’t got past it, but it’s much worse to lose in the last 16 and not have that opportunity again,” Fernando Vicente, Rublev’s coach, told ATPTour.com. “We see it as a positive, not a negative. We see it as another opportunity to try and do it. If it doesn’t happen, we will have to keep trying and keep working.”

He has set foot in the quarters in all of the Grand Slams: at the Australian Open (2021, 2023), Roland Garros (2020, 2022), Wimbledon (2023) and the US Open (2017, 2020, 2022, 2023).

In those matches, in search of a debut major semi-final, Rublev has faced Medvedev three times (including this Wednesday), Novak Djokovic twice and Rafael Nadal once, as well as Stefanos Tsitsipas, Frances Tiafoe and Marin Cilic. However, he has never been able to celebrate and progress to the semi-finals.

“The vast majority of times, six at least, he wasn’t ready, physically or mentally,” said Vicente. “The Cilic one at Roland Garros was a clear opportunity and he should have won, but he lost it in five sets and wasn’t able to manage the mental side of it. Now he is ready, both physically and mentally, but it will be a tricky game; they’re friends and it’s difficult for them to play each other.”

Ben Shelton has become the youngest American US Open semi-finalist in 30 years after recovering from a near catastrophe in the third-set tie-break to upset 10th-seeded countryman Frances Tiafoe Tuesday night at Flushing Meadows.

Twelve months on from a first-round loss at the Open as the World No. 165, 20-year-old Shelton tonight cracked the Top 20 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings for the first time and moved to within one match of reaching his first Grand Slam final in just his fifth appearance at the majors following his 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 victory.

“I felt like I left it all out here tonight. It was an emotional battle,” Shelton said on court after the match.[atp app]

But standing in his way is Novak Djokovic, who will be lacing up for a record-breaking 47th major semi-final as he continues his quest for a 10th final and fourth title at the US Open, where he hopes to build on his record haul of 23 Grand Slam titles.

Much talk had been made of the 2022 NCAA singles champion's overpowering serve coming into match but his return of serve proved equally as influential, especially during a rollercoaster third set that began with six service breaks in the first eight games.

Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are more than just opponents. They are like family.

But that does not matter when they are standing across the net. One player wins, the other loses. There is no in between. The athletes both want the same thing, but only one can earn it. That will be no different when Medvedev and Rublev clash inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for a place in the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

The two men are fierce competitors. But a certain result or scoreline will not change the fact that Rublev is the godfather of Medvedev’s 11-month-old daughter.

“I think we're really close friends. I think we have a great relationship even if on the court we're big competitors,” Medvedev said. “I think nothing is going to, let's call it, come between us to separate us in real life. We're really close.”

Nearly two decades ago, Medvedev and Rublev were like any pair of juniors competing. They would pull out every trick in the book. They would lob one another from the baseline to try to win. The player losing would often whine, even cry. The other would do everything to keep it that way. What kid likes to lose, anyway?

There is a case to be made that Brad Gilbert is the busiest man at the US Open, and the former World No. 4 would have it no other way.

From the late hours of Monday evening until the early hours of Tuesday morning, Gilbert sat courtside in Arthur Ashe Stadium to call the fourth-round match between Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner for ESPN. He interviewed the winner, Zverev, on court before heading back to his hotel in Queens.

“Last night I got back at let's say 2:25. And I was up at like, 5:15, probably went to sleep at 3:30. I've had probably the least sleep here,” Gilbert told ATPTour.com. “Actually, I was out cold yesterday about 5 p.m. and I got to sleep for about 30 minutes… Then somebody comes, wakes me up, got to go do a hit in the studio. So I get like 30 minutes sometimes during the day.”

Most people on Gilbert’s schedule would be exhausted this deep into the tournament. But the Californian is as fired up as ever.

“I've been on every late match. I'm on last tonight again, but it's okay. There's nothing better than sitting out there watching something like what happened last night,” Gilbert said. “Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a match like last night. That kind of reminds me of a Rocky Balboa movie.

Novak Djokovic admitted on Tuesday after advancing to the US Open semi-finals that while he tries to have fun while competing, winning always comes first.

“I’m trying to enjoy the moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure going on that it's hard to have fun, so to say, on the court. It's really about finding a way to navigate through the match and win a tennis match for me,” Djokovic said. “But off the court, in terms of the actual journey of still being a professional tennis player and going around the world, travelling with my coaching team, we try to keep things light off the court and have fun and enjoy life, because in the end of the day, you have to find that optimal balance.”

The 36-year-old is doing just fine in the winning department. The Serbian is chasing a record-extending 24th major title and by defeating Taylor Fritz in the last eight advanced to a record-breaking 47th Grand Slam semi-final.

“Today it was a great test, to see how it feels being on the court, quarter-finals against a top American. Taylor has been playing some great tennis this tournament, I thought,” Djokovic said. “But I was very determined. I had clarity on what I needed to be doing on the court. Of course, in the heat of a moment, sometimes you want to use that energy to lift yourself up, and sometimes you just want to kind of cocoon yourself and really isolate the noise and focus on breathing and focus on staying present and focussing on the next point.

“So it's really adapting to whatever circumstances have for you and whatever is required in that moment for you.”