 Carlos Alcárez vs. Daniel Mevedev is the second semi-final for the men's US Open for 2023, and both have had impressive roads to get to this stage. Mevedev entered the tournament and has a number 3 seed and will take on Balash in the first round. This is no problem getting through in straights, 6-1, 6-1, 6-love. In the second round he'd take on O'Connell and after dropping the third set, he would run away with it in the fourth, 6-2, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. In the third round he'd take on Baez and after a close third set, Mevedev would get through in straights, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. In the fourth round he'd take on Diminor, a man he'd lost to the two previous meetings, including one a couple of weeks ago in Canada, and after dropping the first set, Mevedev would fight back to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Mevedev would take on the number 8 seed, Rublev, who had played a million times before, both in juniors and in the main tour. This is no problem for Medi getting through in straights, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to another semi-final at the US Open. Alcárez entered the tournament as the number 1 seed and will take on Kopfer in the first round. But after the first set, Kopfer would have to retire injured, giving Alcárez the win 6-2, 3-2 retirement. In the second round he'd take on Harris, and after a close third set, Alcárez would get through in straights, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6. In the third round he'd take on the 2016 Dan Evans, a man that he'd beaten earlier in the year. But after dropping the third set, Alcárez would fight back to win 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. In the fourth round he'd take on Arnaudi, who had taken out Nori in the previous round. But the experience of Alcárez was too good, getting through in straights, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to another US Open quarter-final. In the quarter-finals, Alcárez would take on the number 12 seed, Zverev, who had just taken out Yannick Sinner in a 5-set, 4-hour match two nights ago. And the wear and tear showed, with Alcárez winning in straights sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to back-to-back semi-finals in the US Open. These guys have played 3 times before, with Alcárez leading the head-to-head 2-1, including a match in Indian Wells in March on the hard courts. That was actually the final, and Alcárez won that one in straights sets. They also played a Wimbledon in the semi-finals a couple of months ago. Again, straights sets for Alcárez. If Medvedev is going to win this one, he needs to serve big, and he needs to be aggressive. We know that Alcárez is going to be probably doing drop shots and all that kind of fancy stuff that he does, when he has played Medvedev lately. Medvedev needs to send a little closer to the baseline, so he doesn't get exposed by the volleys and the drop shots that Alcárez is going to do. If Alcárez is going to win this one, he needs to push Medvedev around, and of course, come to the net, drop shot, volley, all those things that we've seen him do against Medvedev in the past. He just seems to cut Medvedev to pieces, and we've seen Medvedev vulnerable against those type of players, and Alcárez seems to do it the best. I feel like a lot of people are writing Medvedev off in this one, and thinking that Alcárez is just going to walk up to the final, but I reckon Medvedev is going to make him work. I still think Alcárez is going to win, though, in five sets, but I think Medvedev is going to be much better than he was back at Wimbledon, and also back at Indian Wells on a slower court. This is a faster court, and I think Medvedev is going to learn from his mistakes at Wimbledon, but let me know down in the comments below who's making the final.