Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on US Open collision course

The US Open remains on track for a repeat of this summer’s classic Wimbledon final, after Carlos Alcaraz joined Novak Djokovic in the last four without needing to fully exert himself.

Playing a weary-looking Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz was short of his irresistible best, but still completed the job in an efficient 2hr 30min.

Admittedly, Zverev revealed after the match that he had suffered a hamstring tweak in the second set, limiting the effectiveness of his serve. Still, given that he wasn’t able to score a single break off the Alcaraz serve, either before or after his injury, it seems unlikely that it altered the result.

Alcaraz’s reward for his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory will be a semi-final against Daniil Medvedev – the Russian he has dismissed with a similar lack of fuss on both their last two meetings.

His superiority to the other members of the top 10 – with the obvious exception of Djokovic – is so marked that his focus sometimes wanders, particularly when he reaches the third set. And yet, despite the occasional loss of concentration, he has kept carving smoothly through the draw. The only player to take a set off him at this US Open is British No 2 Dan Evans, during a purple patch of shotmaking on Saturday.

“The last matches that I played against Daniil I played a tactical game perfectly,” Alcaraz told reporters after his win. “I think my game suits pretty well against that type of opponent.”

The problem for Medvedev is simple: he loves to position himself far behind the baseline, but Alcaraz has the best drop-shot in the game. With so much distance to cover on his way to the net, Medvedev regularly gets caught out by short balls.

One suspects that Alcaraz-Medvedev will be the earlier of the two matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, as the schedulers will probably prefer to give the exciting American 20-year-old Ben Shelton the headline slot.

Yet Shelton faces an even more daunting task than Medvedev, as he tries to ambush Djokovic. His one advantage is that they have never encountered each other before on the match court, so his 149mph lefty serve – the fastest in the tournament – will be a new puzzle for Djokovic to solve.

But there were worrying signs for Shelton on Wednesday when he grabbed at his hamstring a couple of times during a mixed-doubles match on Louis Armstrong Stadium. After a strong start, he and Taylor Townsend wound up losing by a 6-7, 6-1, 10-3 scoreline, which suggested that he wasn’t feeling completely comfortable.

Alcaraz was asked on Wednesday night whether he could already feel the anticipation building around another possible meeting with Djokovic, whom he beat at Wimbledon in five sets but then lost to in another memorable final in Cincinnati two-and-a-half weeks ago.

He didn’t deny that the prospect was on his mind. “It would be great to play a final against Novak here in New York,” said Alcaraz. “But both of us have really tough semi-finals, so let’s see.”