US Open: Alcaraz moves past Evans, China's Zheng squeezes into last 16

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain hits to Daniel Evans of Great Britain on day six of the 2023 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY, USA Sept 2, 2023. Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK -- World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz eased past Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to book his spot in the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday.

Despite his loss, the Briton became the first player to take a set from Alcaraz in this year's tournament, and Alcaraz described Evans as a tricky opponent.

"He always wants to go to the net. Great slices, good touch," said Alcaraz. "I think this is my game as well, so we played a pretty good match. I think people loved that. We made great points, great shots, a lot of different situations probably than in other matches. I'm really happy to get through and play the fourth round again in the US Open."

Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev defeated Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (6), ending the Argentine's 12-match winning streak and keeping the former No. 1's hopes of chasing his second US Open title alive.

"I felt like we were both playing well, even in the first two sets. I was just a little better on important points, everything was going my way," Medvedev said.

"The third set he raised his level just a little bit to make the match even tougher. A bit of luck and some good plays from me kept me in the set, and it's good to not finish at 4am."

Zheng Qinwen of China hits a return during the women's singles third round match against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy at the 2023 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States, Sept 2, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the women's draw, China's Zheng Qinwen edged Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to advance into the US Open fourth round for the first time.

After a comfortable win in the first set, Zheng was broken twice in the second and allowed Bronzetti to pull one back. But Zheng won four consecutive games from a 4-2 deficit in the decisive set to seal her victory.

"When you're playing against a good player, the ups and downs can cost you the match, and it almost did today," Zheng admitted. "I hope I can try to be better in this part."

Along with her compatriot Wang Xinyu, Zheng made national history, as this represents the first time that two Chinese women have advanced into the fourth round in the US Open.

Zheng will next meet Tunisia's fifth seed Ons Jabeur, who outlasted No. 31 seed Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

In the women's doubles, Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand defeated China's Zhu Lin and Wu Fang-hsien from Chinese Taipei 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

China's Xu Yifan and Belgium's Joran Vliegen knocked out local pair Ashlyn Krueger and Ethan Quinn 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the mixed doubles.