Archive September 2, 2025

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

After overcoming Jiri Lehecka and reaching the US Open semi-finals, Carlos Alcaraz claims to be “herehere to entertain.”

At Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, the Spaniard defeated the Czech 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in less than two hours.

Lehecka, the five-time Grand Slam champion, broke the record for the first match by breaking the record for the first match with a laser-like focus throughout.

Alcaraz, who stunned the audience with his incredible arsenal of shot-making, still had time for some showmanship during the victory.

Alcaraz, 22, told Sky Sports, “Sometimes I play a shot that I shouldn’t play at the time, but it’s the way I love playing tennis.”

“I want to play solid, play well, and play smart, but when I have the chance to play a great shot, let’s say, a hot shot, why not?”

I’m here to entertain the group, the people, and myself.

In his opening service match, Lehecka, the 20th seed, double-freaked to give Alcaraz the early break.

The Czech made it through the first set despite the agonizing start, and by the time Alcaraz finished the second set, he had reason to believe he could challenge.

Lehecka’s opening service game featured a second time, dropping serve to give his Spanish opponent a big lead.

Alcaraz, who was defeated by Lehecka in the Qatar Open in February, only managed to score six points in the second set.

Alcaraz extended his lead after two sets by hitting a forehand drop-shot on the slide that left Lehecka rooted to the baseline in the third set, which stunned the crowd.

Alcaraz, who won the US Open in 2022, has made it to the semi-finals in New York for the third time.

Howard Webb, the head of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, calls the decision to forbid Josh King’s goal for Fulham in their weekend defeat against Chelsea a “misjudgement.”

King, 18, scored after 22 minutes, but Rodrigo Muniz’s foul was lengthyly recorded by the video assistant referee (VAR) during the intervening period.

Trevoh Chalobah, Chelsea’s centre-back, was alleged to have stepped on Muniz’ foot as he approached the halfway line.

Marco Silva, manager of Fulham, called it “unbelievable” that the goal was denied.

After another contentious VAR decision went against the visitors, leaving Silva furious, Chelsea won the game 2-0 with Joao Pedro’s header and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty.

Michael Salisbury was removed as the match’s VAR official following the game between Liverpool and Arsenal.

PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer Webb acknowledged the error while speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, a television program that analyzes VAR decisions from previous gameweeks.

When the “evidence is very clear,” according to Webb, officials should “only be taking goals away,” according to the guidance they give officials.

It was not contentious; it was incorrect. We’ve established some guidelines for how we conduct matches in the Premier League and use VAR,” said Webb.

That instruction was not properly followed in this circumstance. The officials involved in this incident made a false assumption about how Muniz and Chalobah got in touch.

Without considering the full scope of the situation, the officials “got super focused on that contact.”

Chelsea has benefited from a VAR intervention in its second successive Premier League home game.

Marc Guehi was found to have stifled Eberechi Eze’s free kick in Crystal Palace’s 0-0 draw on the opening weekend owing to his alleged interference with the wall.

VAR decisions, according to Burnley manager Scott Parker, are “threatening to turn football into the most sterile game there is,” but Webb defended its use.

The PGMOL chief continued, “We’ve done really well in the last 18 months or so, with respect to the referee’s call.”

We need to keep doing that because the Premier League has seen the least amount of intervention than any other major league in Europe.