Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will face 12th seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal of the 2023 US Open. The match will be played on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.

Carlos Alcaraz breezed into his third straight quarterfinal with a routine win over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi. Alcaraz allayed fears of picking up an injury after he was spotted with a tape on his left leg. A day earlier, Alcaraz reportedly skipped practice. However, the young Spaniard admitted nothing was bothering him, and niggling pains are relatively common, and only took necessary precautions to give his body adequate rest time. Alcaraz didn’t need to shift through the gears on Labor Day, in a solid display where he won 78% first-serve points and tallied 31 winners to 22 unforced errors to topple Arnaldi. He only dropped his serve once in the near two-hour contest.

Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, went the distance against Jannik Sinner, before he prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a late-night finish. It is Zverev’s third straight quarterfinal in the last four years, having missed out on last year’s participation due to a gruesome ankle injury he picked up at Roland Garros. The match against the power-hitting Italian was certainly not devoid of drama and despite having an altercation with a fan midway through the fourth set, Zverev composed himself to see out the win in five sets. After the match, an optimistic Zverev reckoned he was back to his pre-injury level, after finishing the match with an impressive 56 winners and recording 166 points to Sinner’s 155. A win over the defending champion on Wednesday will send a massive statement to the rest of the draw.

Alexander Zverev leads the head-to-head 3-2, winning the pair’s only Grand Slam meeting before this at last year’s French Open in four sets. Zverev will bring immense power with every stroke, something Alcaraz isn’t a great fan of, as he has less time to dictate. But the Spaniard’s vast battery of skills has to be factored in. He’s a more complete player than last year’s quarterfinal meeting at Roland Garros. The German is also coming off a barnburner victory against Sinner and his fitness levels are probably not going to be on par with the top seed.