Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz affirmed his position as the leading contender at the US Open 2026 with an overwhelming 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Wu Yibing of China in the early morning of September 5 (Vietnam time) to win the right to enter the 4th round, while Aryna Sabalenka easily overcame Kamilla Rakhimova (Uzbekistan).
Alcaraz extended his winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments to 17, including the championship at Flushing Meadows in 2025 and the Australian Open earlier this year - a victory that once helped him become the youngest male player to complete the entire Career Grand Slam set.
The Spanish tennis player is aiming for his third title at Flushing Meadows. He arrived in New York after being sidelined for 4 months due to a wrist injury.
However, the 23-year-old player played more and more confidently through each round - even though Wu had a moment that interrupted his winning momentum in the first set when he broke one game back.
Wu, who tried to become the first Chinese male player to reach the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era, could not maintain that good form at Arthur Ashe's court and Alcaraz quickly regained control.
The speed of movement and continuous accurate hitting ability of the owner of 7 Grand Slam titles were fully shown in set 2. Against Wu's resistance, Alcaraz launched excellent balls to double the gap.
When victory was very near, Alcaraz celebrated excitedly after breaking the game to lead 3-1 in set 3, then completely broke away from the world No. 113 player to close the match.
His next opponent is Tommy Paul, 20th seed American player who went through 5 sets with Alexander Bublik.
Daniil Medvedev also wrote his name into the 4th round after 3 sets winning with the same score of 6-4 against Arthur Rinderknech.
Sabalenka complains about the smell of marijuana
In the women's singles, Sabalenka launched 10 aces to defeat Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4. The match was only slightly interrupted when she complained about the smell of marijuana on Louis Armstrong's court.
I'm like:'Everyone, you can do anything or smoke anything to relax, but please don't do that around the tennis court'. It's hard to compete to the fullest when you have to endure that smell," the Belarusian player shared.
Sabalenka will meet home player Taylor Townsend in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, 3rd seed American Jessica Pegula - 1 of 3 players with the opportunity to usurp Sabalenka's world No. 1 position - came back to defeat 2021 runner-up Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Pegula (runner-up in 2024) is having the opportunity to realize her childhood dream of rising to the world No. 1 position at this tournament. Her next opponent is Sorana Cirstea (Romania), who just eliminated No. 19 seed Jasmine Paolini (Italy).
No. 11 seed Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2, getting closer to her first WTA Finals ticket in her career.
