Key events
Medvedev and Alcaraz have emerged from the tunnel to robust cheers inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. They meet chair umpire Nico Helwerth at the net for the coin toss. Alcaraz calls heads. It’s tails and Medvedev elects to receive.
Both have taken the baseline to go through their warm-ups and we should be under way in the next three minutes.
Here’s Tumaini Carayol’s match report from today’s first semi-final, where Djokovic won in three sets to equalPhiladelphia’s own Bill Tilden record of 10th US Open final appearances.
Prelude
Hello and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonight’s blockbuster semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. We’ve got a delicious matchup in store under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium between the past two US Open champions for a place in Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic, who saw off the American upstart Ben Shelton in straight sets earlier today.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz, the top seed who captured his first career major title here last year, has won 24 of his past 25 matches at grand slams dating back to the start of last year’s US Open and is bidding to become the first back-to-back men’s champion at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer won the last of five titles in a row in 2008. He is also trying to become the first man to win three slams before his 21st birthday since Mats Wilander won the 1982 French Open, the 1983 and 1984 Australian Opens and the 1985 French Open.
Medvedev, the 27-year-old from Russia seeded third, is taking aim at his third US Open final in five years and a fifth overall at grand slam. He’s right at home on the blue hard courts of Queens, having won the 2021 title over Djokovic and given Rafael Nadal everything he could handle in a titanic five-set final here back in 2019. His overall record in New York is 28-5, an .848 win rate that represents his best at any of the majors.
The stadium is filling up and the crowd buzzing for a clash between two of the sport’s true heavyweights. The players should be on court for their warm-ups in about 15 minutes.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a kook back at today’s first men’s semi-final.
