Marion Bartoli names the only two players she thinks can beat Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open this year

Carlos Alcaraz has not lost a set at the US Open so far this year after his latest victory over Luciano Darderi.

Alcaraz is a former US Open champion, having won the title in 2022, but suffered a shock second round defeat last year.

However, after the Spaniard won the Cincinnati Open, many people including Martina Navratilova predicted Alcaraz to win the US Open this year.

Despite Alcaraz undergoing medical intervention during his latest win, he made it safely through to the fourth round of the US Open and appears to be a big threat to win the title once again.

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Marion Bartoli believes only Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic can beat Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

Alcaraz beat Darderi, 6-2 6-4 6-0, to reach the fourth round of the US Open and extend his winning streak to nine matches.

When analysing this latest performance from Alcaraz on Sky Sports, former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli suggested that she believes only Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic can beat him at the US Open this year.

“To be honest with you, I mean, how many players have been able to beat Carlos Alcaraz this year and for the past couple of years, when Alcaraz is just on a great day and feeling the ball well and he’s, as he mentioned, awake,” said Bartoli.

“It’s just very difficult to get him out of the court. You would think that only almost only Jannik Sinner can do it, I’m still thinking of that sort of little bump he had in Miami when he lost to David Goffin, but apart from that, he has been just a stellar year, from strength to strength in tournaments.

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“Going from final to titles and only playing to the very last and the very best against Jannik Sinner, and sometimes winning, sometimes losing.

“But you can think that maybe Novak Djokovic has a little edge over Carlos Alcaraz when you look at the last two meetings, the one at Olympics and this year in Australia… apart from that, you need someone that is able to live with him in the rallies from the back of the court, and probably you can name two or three names of players that could do that in tennis right now and that’s why it’s so difficult.”

While Alcaraz has lost to other players on the ATP Tour in 2025, Djokovic (Australian Open quarterfinal) and Sinner (Wimbledon final) are the only players to beat him at major tournaments this year.

Tim Henman explains what the biggest challenge was for Carlos Alcaraz vs Luciano Darderi

One thing that was unusual about Alcaraz’s match against Darderi was the time that it was played, as he was scheduled first on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11:30am in New York.

Former world number four Tim Henman believes that playing in the morning was probably the biggest challenge posed to Alcaraz.

“Yeah, absolutely. He said it himself. I think the biggest challenge was making sure that he was ready in the moment to go at 11:30 a.m.,” said Henman.

“It was a similar thing for Djokovic, they don’t normally, you know, start play on the show courts at that time, but I saw his team in here just before 8 o’clock, so they’re making sure that he was wide awake.

“And again, in that type of environment, he just wants to go out there and basically show off and there was a minor blip in the second set but he is looking in mighty good form.”

In his post-match press conference, Alcaraz admitted that playing in the morning was an unusual experience for him.

“I just went to bed at 11:00, 11:15. That for me is really weird, to be honest!” said Alcaraz.

“I just woke 7:00 in the morning just to be ready to warm up well, feeling awake, and feeling good. So, it was an unusual time for me, but at the same time it’s good, because I’m already done with everything. So, it’s a good time as well.”

Alcaraz may be hoping for a slightly later time in his next match, where he will play Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

This will be a fourth meeting between the pair, with Alcaraz leading the head-to-head 3-0.

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