Germany’s Alexander Zverev celebrates after winning a match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the fourth round of the US Open Tennis Championships on Monday, September 6, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo / Seth Wenig)
New York (AP) — Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic want to win a trophy for a gold medal around their neck.
The Tokyo Olympics tennis champion advanced to the US Open quarterfinals on Monday, one step closer to the first Grand Slam title.
Zverev defeated Jannik Sinner 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7) to achieve 15 consecutive victories. The fourth seed from Germany started in Japan, won the title in Cincinnati and then continued to compete in the US Open, which was the runner-up to Dominic Thiem last year.
Zverev said his gold medal was with him in New York. A 24-year-old boy, accused of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, joked in an interview on the court that he would hug a medal when he was in bed because he had no girlfriend.
He said keeping the medal with him is a way to remind him of his success last month. He pulled out some close quarters in the second half of the second set and pointed out the confidence he gained from it as the reason he came from behind to steal the tiebreaker.
“I think it’s probably the last few months for me,” he said.
Bencic also achieved the best major results at the US Open and reached the semi-finals in 2019 with his last appearance. The 24-year-old from Switzerland is a victory away from returning to Switzerland after defeating 2020 French Open champion Iga Sifion 7-6 (12), 6-3.
The 11th seeded Bencic pulled out the long first set of tiebreakers and took the second set in 43 minutes-only about 20 more than the tiebreakers followed.
“The set was so uniform that I think I’m always a little lucky at the tiebreaker,” Bencic said.
But if you’re lucky, you can’t explain her results in New York. In New York, three out of six appearances reached the final eight. She made her debut and was a quarterfinalist in 2014.
Zverev’s winning streak includes a victory over Novak Djokovic in the Olympic semifinals. Top-ranked Djokovic faced 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby later Monday on the same stage he lost at the US Open last year.
After Djokovic lost the match against Pablo Carreño Busta, it was the fourth round that was defaulted because he accidentally hit a line judge with a tennis ball in his throat.
Another American, 22nd seed Reilly Opelka, was playing his fourth round match. If both he and Brooksby win, they will be the first pair of American men to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament since Andy Roddick and John Isner at the 2011 US Open.
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Other AP Tennis Coverage: https: //apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Olympic champions Zverev and Bencic advance to US Open quarterfinals | WGN Radio 720
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