Mats Wilander has pointed to Carlos Alcaraz as the player to beat at this year’s US Open, citing the Spaniard’s form through three rounds and a level of focus that has impressed the former world No 1. “Alcaraz is playing extremely well,” said Wilander. “He’s unbelievably focused, the movement is just so good it seems impossible to hit the ball past him. “His forehand, he said himself is not perfect, to me it looks pretty perfect, and he is serving well. “Early in the tournament, for once, he looks like the man to beat.”

Alcaraz reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 win over Lucas Darderi, having not dropped a set in his prior matches. He entered the tournament having won 30 of his last 31 matches, his only recent loss coming to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.

Sinner, the defending champion, remains a favourite for many and, like Alcaraz, had not dropped a set at this stage of the event.

Alcaraz will next meet world No 82 Arthur Rinderknech, who recovered from a set down to Benjamin Bonzi. Earlier in the tournament Rinderknech had survived a five-set match with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The world No 2 has beaten Rinderknech on three occasions, two of those matches going the distance. Their closest meeting finished 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at Queen’s Club in 2023, a result that helped propel Alcaraz to his first Wimbledon title.

“Rinderknech has a big serve and big game,” analysed the Swede. “He can rush Alcaraz, maybe take the second serve return and come to the net, maybe hit the ball really hard down the middle and come to the net, do something that will surprise Alcaraz. “I think he has a chance to at least win a set.”

Alcaraz has a history of strong results at the US Open, reaching the quarter-finals on his first appearance at 18 and winning the title in 2022, but his straight-set defeat last year to Botic Van de Zandschulp has remained a point of reference. “I’m just trying not to do the same things as last year,” Alcaraz analysed. “Trying to improve and do the things much better. Every time that I step on the court, I’m just locked in from the first point until the last one. “I’m taking last year as motivation coming into this year, be more hungry, ambitious to do great things here. “This is a place that I love playing. The energy is crazy, so I’m just trying to feel the love and the energy from the people much more and playing as much matches as I can, that motivates me.”

On Rinderknech, Alcaraz added: “He’s really difficult to play against, really aggressive, big serve, trying to go to the net. “So it’s going to be really difficult, but as I said, I’m just trying to be focused on myself, that I’m playing great tennis, and I’m feeling really comfortable physically, mentally, and just feeling the ball really well. “I will try to think just about my goals, about myself, and let’s see, but it’s going to be a really interesting one.”

Ben Shelton arrived at the 2025 US Open among the contenders but was forced to leave his third-round encounter with Adrian Mannarino because of a left shoulder problem, ultimately retiring after Mannarino took the fourth set, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, ret. The No. 6 seed showed visible pain from the start of the fourth set and, in his first-ever mid-match retirement, left the court uncertain of what had caused the injury or how long recovery might take.

Former Australian Open semifinalist Chanda Rubin said, “It was tough to watch, and you just hope it’s not as serious as it looked in the moment. There’s a lot of things that could go wrong with the shoulder. It could be a really bad impingement; that would be preferable. It could be torn, but maybe not a bad tear, or it could be something that keeps him out for quite a while and even something that could require surgery.

“So hopefully, he can find out that information and he can use it to get back healthy, first and foremost. He’s got the experience of his dad, and we saw Bryan telling him to call it and just get off the court to figure out what this is to get ahead of it. I think that was a smart decision and they’re going to have to make a lot of smart decisions going forward.”

Shelton made his major breakthrough at this event in 2023, upsetting higher-ranked Americans Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal, where he pushed eventual champion Novak Djokovic tough over three sets. He entered this fortnight fresh from his first Masters 1000 title earlier this month in Toronto and had been projected to meet former champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

1998 US Open champion Lindsay Davenport said, “As an American player, this is the tournament you grow up dreaming about trying to win. This is the one that most of us, as junior players, this is the first one we got to step foot in for the majors. You could just see how crushed he was. He has hopes of winning this tournament. He’s been close. He built so much momentum this summer to try and make a run here. He wanted to play Alcaraz in the quarters and see what would happen. So, you could see the heartbreak on him.

“He’ll be back before we know it, but pretty crushing as an American. The first real time you think you have a chance to win here, and then injury takes you out? That’s hard to swallow.”

Fellow former world No. 1 Jim Courier offered a cautious positive note: “That’s the most important shot for him overall, so that doesn’t seem to be troubled by whatever this is. So, that’s my silver lining I’m trying to take from it. I’m sure they’ll be getting scans in New York City today or sometime soon to figure out what they need to do to go forward.”

Novak Djokovic arrived at the 2025 US Open chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title and delivered another landmark performance in the third round.

The 38-year-old secured a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 victory over world No 35 Cameron Norrie in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night. He is also vying for a record-equalling fifth US Open men’s singles crown.

With that win Djokovic recorded his 192nd hard-court Grand Slam victory, a mark that moved him past Roger Federer to become the outright record-holder for most hard-court wins at majors. He had first drawn level with Federer with his second-round victory before surpassing him in New York.

The Serb has also extended his all-time Grand Slam match wins to 395, a tally that underlines his sustained success at the sport’s biggest events.

Djokovic remains the longest-serving world number one in history, having spent a record 428 weeks at the top. The article notes a complicating detail from August 2024: 400 ranking points Jannik Sinner earned for reaching the Indian Wells semi-finals were later invalidated following positive doping tests, yet the ATP did not retroactively remove those points from Sinner’s ranking. Had those points been subtracted, Djokovic would have reclaimed the top ranking for one week in August 2024 and the weeks-at-No 1 total would have read 429 instead of 428. A journalist outlined that scenario to Djokovic after his win and asked whether the ATP should award him the additional week. Djokovic replied:

“(Smiles) Yeah, maybe. Maybe we’ll have this discussion another time, but right now, I’m okay with it. I’m okay with it. Right now, it’s fine, but honestly, I forgot about it. I didn’t even think about it,” Djokovic replied.

“But look, it’s been a great career of hunting the No 1 for me and defending the No 1 and I mean, I’ve been there longer than anyone, so one week more or less at this moment in time is not so relevant. But maybe that will change (laughs).”

On the match against Norrie, Djokovic said: “I guess coming into the match, any match, you really want to win in straight sets without any drama and just ease through, but that’s not possible.

“My team wants me to suffer on the court so I can get some more minutes spent in match play. It’s good that I get tested.

“I hadn’t played any matches since Wimbledon and it’s been for us quite a long time, five to six weeks. I’m still trying to find my groove and my rhythm on court.”