Alexander Zverev, of Germany, returns a shot during his win over Jannik Sinner, of Italy, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday in New York. Seth Wenig/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic want a trophy in their hands to go with the gold medals they had around their necks.
The Tokyo Olympics tennis champions both moved into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Monday, getting a step closer to their first Grand Slam titles.
Zverev beat Jannik Sinner 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7) for his 15th straight victory. The No. 4 seed from Germany started that run in Japan, carried it through a title in Cincinnati and then kept right on going at the U.S. Open, where he was the runner-up to Dominic Thiem last year.
Zverev said his gold medal is with him in New York. The 24-year-old, who has been accused by a former girlfriend of domestic abuse, joked in his on-court interview that he cuddles with the medal when he’s in bed because he doesn’t have a girlfriend.
He said keeping the medal with him is a way to remind himself of his success over the last month. He pointed to the confidence he’s gained from it as a reason he pulled out a couple of close games late in the second set, then came from behind to take the tiebreaker.
“I think that’s maybe the last few months for me, right there,” he said.
Next up for Zverev will be unseeded Lloyd Harris, who advanced to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by handling Reilly Opelka’s big serve and eliminating the No. 22-seeded American 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
Novak Djokovic returns against Jenson Brooksby during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday in New York. The top-seeded Djokovic won in four sets. John Minchillo/Associated Press
Novak Djokovic took the next step toward his calendar Grand Slam with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby.
Djokovic is attempting to become the first man since 1969 to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year. Steffi Graf did it in 1988, and also won the gold medal in the Olympics that year.
The top-seeded Djokovic dropped the first set as Brooksby came out strong, but settled in and advanced to the quarterfinals where he will face No. 6 Matteo Berrettini, who beat Oscar Otte 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Brooksby was trying to be the youngest American man in a major quarterfinal since Andy Roddick at the 2003 Wimbledon.
Bencic had her best result in a major at the U.S. Open, reaching the semifinals in 2019 in her last appearance. The 24-year-old from Switzerland is a victory away from getting back there after beating 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek 7-6 (12), 6-3.
The 11th-seeded Bencic pulled out the lengthy first-set tiebreaker, then took the second set in 43 minutes – only about 20 more than the tiebreaker lasted.
“The set was so even, so I think in the tiebreak it’s always a little bit about luck,” Bencic said. But luck doesn’t explain her results in New York, where she has reached the last eight in three of her six appearances. She was a quarterfinalist in 2014 in her debut.
Bencic will play Britain’s Emma Raducanu, 18, who joined fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the women’s quarterfinals by beating American Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-1.
Raducanu reached the fourth round and Wimbledon and has now gone a step further at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. She is the third qualifier in the professional era, which began in 1968, to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals, joining Barbara Gerken in 1981 and Kaia Kanepi in 2017.
“Belinda is a great player who’s in great form, so I know I’m going to have to bring it on Wednesday,” Raducanu said.
Rogers beat No. 1 Ash Barty in the third round and jumped to a 2-0 lead Monday before Raducanu reeled off the next 11 games.
Zverev’s winning streak includes a victory over Novak Djokovic in the semifinals at the Olympics. The top-ranked Djokovic was in action later Monday against 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby in the same stage where he was eliminated at last year’s U.S. Open.
It was in the fourth round that Djokovic was defaulted for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a tennis ball after dropping a game in his match against Pablo Carreño Busta.
SHELBY ROGERS had no shortage of people singing her praises after she upset No. 1 seed Ash Barty. She knew how much the tone would change after the American followed that by getting routed by Emma Raducanu on Monday.
“Obviously we appreciate the spotlight in those moments. But then, you know, you have today and I’m going to have 9 million death threats and whatnot,” Rogers said. “It’s very much polarizing, one extreme to the other very quickly.”
Rogers jumped to a quick lead and had a break point to go up 3-0, then dropped 11 straight games in a 6-2, 6-1 loss to the 18-year-old from Britain. She said afterward she kind of wished social media didn’t exist, because hers was going to be filled with negativity.
“It’s a big part of marketing now. We have contracts, we have to post certain things,” Rogers said. “I don’t know, you could probably go through my profile right now, I’m probably a fat pig and, you know, words that I can’t say right now.
“But, I mean, it is what it is. You try not to take it to heart, and it’s the unfortunate side of any sport and what we do.”
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