Arevalo and Pavic remain unstoppable in the United States | ATP Tour

US Open

Arevalo and Pavic remain unstoppable in the United States

The Salvadoran and the Croatian have won their last eight games in this country.

September 03, 2024

Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavic’s fantastic season looks set to get better. On Tuesday, the Salvadoran and the Croatian defeated Briton Neal Skupski and New Zealander Michael Venus 7-6, 6-1(1) to advance to the US Open semifinals for the second time in their careers, and for the first time as a team.

The fourth seeds have now won their last eight matches, four en route to the title in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, and another four during this fortnight at Flushing Meadows, where they are seeking their fifth title of the season (they also won Roland Garros, Geneva and Hong Kong).

Their year has been so outstanding that a week ago they became the first duo to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. But, far from being satisfied, they continue to add more points as a result of victories such as this Tuesday night in which they had an almost perfect performance.

In addition to saving the two break points they faced on serve, they took advantage of the two they generated on the return to prevail in just 73 minutes. Their next opponents will be Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, whom they have faced on eight occasions, all in 2024. The Lexus ATP HeadToHead between the two teams is 2-2.

Doubles is left without a South American presence
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos had reached the quarter-finals for the third consecutive Grand Slam, but on Tuesday at the US Open they were seeking the semi-final, just as they had done in previous encounters at Roland Garros and Wimbleon this season.

However, the top favourites at Flushing Meadows were unable to advance against the Australian pair of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, who won 7-6(4), 6-4, in one hour and 41 minutes.

Purcell and Thompson crossed paths again with the Spaniard and the Argentine, just as they did at Wimbledon, where they were prevented from reaching the final. The Australians, who have already won three titles as a team this season in Dallas, Los Cabos and Houston, are ranked No. 6 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, a position that would qualify them for the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the year.

Granollers and Zeballos were the second pair to secure a ticket to Turin this fortnight in New York after winning their first round match against Francisco Cerúndolo and Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

Thompson is the only player in the tournament capable of reaching the second week in both the singles draw – he reached the fourth round – and the doubles draw. In the semi-finals, he faces locals Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, who beat Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and Croatian Nikola Mektic (6-1, 6-7, 6-4).

For their part, Máximo González and Andrés Molteni were unable to surpass their Grand Slam ceiling, even though they were just one set away from doing so. The Argentine pair, who started in New York as the No. 16 seeds, lost to Krawietz and Puetz 6-7(11), 6-4, 6-1, in two hours and 23 minutes.

Gonzalez and Molteni had never reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and on Tuesday they faced their fifth opportunity together to do so. But the No. 10 German seeds blocked their path.

Since they reached the quarter-finals for the first time at Roland Garros 2023 (l. to Gille/Vliegen), they have tried four more times, as well as this year in New York. They failed to do so last year at the US Open (l. to Ram/Salibury), nor in 2024 at the Australian Open (l. to Bopanna/Ebden) or at Wimbledon (l. to Purcell/Thompson).