Alcaraz eyes history!

World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz surged into the last 16 of the US Open on Saturday as Tunisiarsquos Ons Jabeur kept her dream of a first Grand Slam title alive with victory in a threeset thrillerAlcaraz looking to become the first man to successfully defend the title since Roger Federer in 2008 produced a flurry of magical shots en route to dispatching British 26th seed Dan Evans 62 63 46 63It was another stylish victory for the 20yearold Spaniard who will face Italyrsquos Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round on Monday The Spaniard kept Evans on the back foot with his booming forehand while delighting the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd with several of his signature forehand drop shotsAlcaraz also conjured one of the shots of the tournament to clinch a decisive break in the fourth set curling a logicdefying forehand up the line past Evans for a 42 leadDaniil MedvedevAlcaraz who will surrender his World No 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic at the end of this tournament admitted he was motivated by matching Federer in defending his crownldquoObviously defending the title is a goal for merdquo he said ldquoIrsquom looking for that Nobodyrsquos done it here since Roger so Irsquod love to be part of tournament history with himrdquoAlcarazrsquos win keeps him on track for a repeat quarterfinal against Italyrsquos Jannik Sinner a year after the two men duelled in an epic fivehour fivesetter that finished at 250am the latest finish in US Open historyAlso Read Reigning champ Carlos Alcaraz returns as fanfavouriteSinner knocks out WawrinkaSixth seed Sinner did his part to keep the rematch on course Saturday with a stylish 63 26 64 62 win over Swiss veteran Stan WawrinkaAlcarazrsquos last16 opponent Arnaldi meanwhile advanced after upsetting 16thseeded Briton Cameron Norrie winning 63 64 63 in just under two hoursMedvedev enters last 16Meanwhile Russiarsquos 2021 US Open champion and third seed Daniil Medvedev made it safely into the last 16 in a latenight 62 62 76 86 victory over Argentinarsquos Sebastian BaezArguably the game of day six came in the womenrsquos draw where popular Tunisian fifth seed Jabeur overcame a courageous display by injured opponent Marie Bouzkova to advance But the game changed midway through the second set when Bouzkova suffered what appeared to be a thigh injury severely hampering her mobility thereafterDespite grimacing and wincing in pain Czech No31 seed Bouzkova somehow managed to keep on playing as Jabeur dug deep to complete a 57 76 75 63 in 2hr 56min on the Arthur Ashe Stadium courtElsewhere on Saturday Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka maintained her dominant start to the tournament with a 60minute demolition of Francersquos Clara Burel winning 61 61The Belarusian righthander will play Russiarsquos 13th seed Daria Kasatkina on Monday in the last 16 Kasatkina booked her place in the fourth round with a 63 64 win over Belgiumrsquos Greet MinnenMadison Keys seeded 17th became the second American woman into the last 16 after Coco Gauff with a 57 62 62 win over Russian 14th seed Liudmila SamsonovaKeys will play compatriot and third seed Jessica Pegula in the last 16Pegula beats SvitolinaPegula outfought Ukrainersquos 26thranked Elina Svitolina 64 46 62 to reach the fourth roundWimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova wasted no time in sweeping into the last 16 taking just 56 minutes to dismantle Russiarsquos Ekaterina Alexandrova 62 61This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever