This victory extended Alcaraz’s Grand Slam winning streak to 17 matches as he continues his pursuit of becoming the first man to win back-to-back US Opens since Roger Federer won five straight from 2004-08.
Although he hadn’t played a singles match since April, he’s dropped just one set through three matches in his return to action.
The scoreline of the match wasn’t quite indicative of how competitive it was. Each of the first two sets was tied at three before Alcaraz pulled away late. The third set was less competitive, with Alcaraz winning the final five games to close out the match in two hours and 20 minutes.
Wu, who matched his deepest run at a Slam with a third-round appearance in the 2022 US Open, saved eight of 15 break-point chances on his serve to hang around in the match despite finishing with 12 winners and 39 unforced errors.
“I think today there was a really high rhythm,” Alcaraz said after the win. “The way [Wu] plays is unbelievable, the rhythm he has on every shot: forehand, backhand. His balls skid a lot on the court and, for me, it’s really difficult to control sometimes. But I think I stayed there. I played aggressive; I played smart in the toughest moments.”
Alcaraz will face his first seeded opponent in the next round since his return, No 20 Tommy Paul, who knocked off No 15 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-3.
No 7 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia continued his strong start to the event with his third straight-sets victory, this time a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No 26 Arthur Rinderknech of France.
Medvedev will next face No 11 Frances Tiafoe, who rolled past No 22 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
The last match of the night stretched past 2am on Saturday, with No 8 Ben Shelton downing Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 22 minutes.
On the women’s side, two-time doubles champions Venus Williams and Serena Williams rolled back the years but were unable to get past Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching, losing 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(10-7).
On the singles side, American Taylor Townsend set up a clash with four-time major winner Aryna Sabalenka by seeing off Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3.
Jessica Pegula gave fellow former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez hope before coming back in style to seal a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win. The American third seed will next meet Sorana Cirstea.
Ukraine’s 11th seed Marta Kostyuk beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2 and next takes on Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, who beat Ann Li 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2.
It was the end of the road for Kostyuk’s compatriot Elina Svitolina, who was beaten 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 by Anna Kalinskaya.
Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova was unable to keep her strong Grand Slam form going as the seventh seed was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by Emma Navarro, who joined the American march into the weekend at the tournament. (Reuters)