Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka both advanced to the third round of the US Open with convincing second-round wins, but it was their press conference comments that generated headlines overnight.
Alcaraz Criticizes ATP Schedule
Defending champion Alcaraz said his four-month hiatus from tennis due to a wrist injury will not be the last long break he takes from the ATP Tour. The world No.3 has publicised plans to miss future tournaments because their schedule is too tight, claiming it is impossible to play them all.
Speaking in his press conference on Wednesday about the enforced absence, he said: "I took more than I wanted, but seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously, I don't want to have this break because of an injury, but in the future, I'm going to take some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it's impossible to play them all."
"They are adding more important tournaments; in a way, they are making us play. You can say no and decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some Grand Slams, and we are out playing 40 weeks if we have to play every mandatory tournament the ATP requires us to play, so it's impossible."
"We are seeing a lot of players getting injured and tired. If they don't do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future. Taking this break because of an injury, it wasn't that good, but I'm going to take some breaks and miss some tournaments in the future, for sure."
Sabalenka Clashes with Journalist
The two-time defending women's singles champion needed just 53 minutes to beat debutant Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But she took umbrage at The New York Times journalist Matthew Futterman asking her about having to attend a lot of events before the US Open begins.
In response to a question about her mood now that the tournament is underway, compared to last week when there were "lots of parties and fun and stuff like that", she began shaking her head in exasperation before cutting off the query.
"You guys are like a joke. Parties, fun, why would you even say that? Why would you even think about that? Like, what kind of question is that? Just because I posted some activities with brands, and you think that I've been partying, not training?"
Explaining himself, Futterman said: "I'm not suggesting you were partying, I'm saying there are a lot of events and things like that. I'm not saying you go to the parties." Sabalenka hit back, claiming, "You literally said that," to which the journalist responded, "Excuse me?" before she sighed and asked, "Next question".
Continuing to clarify, Futterman said: "For everyone who's unclear, I'm not suggesting that Aryna is having fun at these parties. I'm saying that she makes a lot of appearances and there's a lot to do, and there's lots of events, OK?" Sabalenka concurred and said: "Move on."
He obliged, asking: "Now that the tournaments started, do you find you're getting quite serious and combative?" That also received similarly short shrift, Sabalenka sarcastically snapping: "Oh yeah, I wasn't serious before that. Next question." As another journalist began to ask something else, she turned back to Futterman and said, gesturing towards him with her right hand: "Think before you say stuff."
Other Results and British Interest
Last year's men's singles champion had to come from a set down before winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 against Jaime Faria. Elsewhere, Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova beat Katie Boulter in 58 minutes, with the British number one winning just one game and acknowledging afterwards: "it was a bad day at the office".
Jacob Fearnley and Toby Samuel also lost their second-round matches, ending British interest in the men's draw, with Arthur Fery, Cameron Norrie, Harry Wendelken and Jan Choinski already out; however, qualifiers Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones are still in, playing Marie Bouzkova and Iva Jovic, respectively, on Thursday.
Navone Continues Djokovic Conqueror Run
Mariano Navone reached the third round of a hard-court Grand Slam for the first time after following up his first-round win over Novak Djokovic by beating Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(4). He has also equalled his career-best performance at a major, which came at last year's French Open, where he beat Brandon Nakashima and Reilly Opelka before losing to eighth seed and eventual semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti.
Navone will now play his fellow Argentine, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who beat lucky loser Fearnley, in a third-round match between the country's second- and fifth-ranked singles players. Francisco Cerundolo is their No.1, but Navone came into this tournament behind the former's younger brother, Juan Manuel, as well as Thiago Tirante, both of whom went out in the first round.
Etcheverry and Navone have never played each other on the ATP Tour; their last match was at the 2022 Uruguay Open, a Challenger Tour event. Their only other match was three years earlier at an M15 tournament on the ITF World Tennis Tour in their country's capital, Buenos Aires. Etcheverry won both in straight sets, although they were played on clay, unlike the hard courts of New York.
