Flawless Alcaraz cruises into US Open semi final 

Carlos Alcaraz reacts after defeating Jiri Lehecka. Picture: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Second seed Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the US Open semi-finals on Tuesday, demolishing Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows and he had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he fired off 28 winners and never faced a break point.

Lehecka is one of the few players to beat Alcaraz this season, winning in the Doha quarter-finals, but was outclassed this time around and could only watch helplessly as the Spaniard's forehand winner zipped by on match point.

Alcaraz will play the winner of the match later on Tuesday between 24-times major winner Novak Djokovic and American fourth seed Taylor Fritz.

Meanwhile, American Jessica Pegula reached her second straight US Open semi-final with a clinical 6-3 6-3 win over twice Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday.

Fourth-ranked Pegula had a dreadful run-up to the year's final major but has flipped the script in New York, where she has yet to drop a set and fired off 17 winners to beat the unseeded Czech.

Krejcikova recovered from injuries earlier this year and saved eight match points in a fourth-round thriller to reach the final eight but ran out of gas against the 2024 runner-up.

Pegula will face the winner of the match later on Tuesday between the defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.

"I feel like I'm just really comfortable," said Pegula. "It's pretty crazy... 10 years ago I never thought I'd be good at this (and reach the final stages of a slam) but I guess I am."

Jessica Pegula, of the United States, left, greets Barbora Krejcikova, of the Czech Republic, after winning her quarterfinal. Picture: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Krejcikova missed an overhead shot in the second game and was seen repeatedly rubbing her eyes as she struggled to deal with fatigue following two bruising back-to-back three-set matches, surrendering her serve with a double fault.

She broke back when Pegula sent a backhand into the net in the seventh game but Krejcikova immediately handed the advantage back to the American by dropping her serve again.

Pegula broke the Czech to love with a backhand winner down the line in the opening game of the second set.

Playing in her first US Open quarter-final in four years, Krejcikova appeared to be heading for a swift defeat as she fell behind 4-1 with Pegula having secured the double break after the errors kept flying off her Czech rival's racket.

Although Krejcikova showed some signs of life as she regained one of the breaks in the sixth game, the effort only delayed the inevitable.

Two double faults in the final game capped a miserable day for Krejcikova, while a beaming Pegula soaked in the roaring cheers from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd after wrapping up the lopsided win.

The quarter-finals will continue on Wednesday with Iga Swiatek and local hope Amanda Anisimova facing off in a rematch of this year's Wimbledon finale, while defending champion Jannik Sinner takes on fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

Anisimova will aim to derail Swiatek's pursuit of a seventh Grand Slam title but her immediate goal will be to gain revenge for a brutal 6-0 6-0 defeat by the Polish second seed in the Wimbledon final in July.

World number one Sinner has been in typically ruthless form at Flushing Meadows, barring a third-round blip against Canada's Denis Shapovalov when he dropped his only set at this year's edition, and few will bet against him winning a fifth major.

— Reuters