Alexander Blockx became the first Belgian man to reach the US Open quarter-finals, but a rib injury has left his place in the last eight against Karen Khachanov
Fresh off knocking out fifth seed Flavio Cobolli in four sets, Blockx came through a three-hour, 15-minute battle with Francisco Cerundolo on Monday.
The 6ft 4in player saved 14 of the 17 break points he faced and went on to close out a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 2023 Australian Open boys’ champion received treatment at 3-2 in the first set after feeling “really sharp pain” in his rib, and then later on, he took some “magical medication” from the doctor to help him push through and seal an historic victory.
In his on-court interview, he said, “To be honest with you, from the second game, I started feeling a really sharp pain in my rib. I was really just holding on.
“Even though I won that first set 6-3, it could have been the other way around. He had so many opportunities. Afterwards, the doctor gave me some magical medication, which kept me going.
“And from the end of the third set, I started to feel a lot better again. I barely felt pain. So I think I might use that in two days again!”
Blockx’s win takes him to a career-high 26th in the rankings and next up, he will face former US Open semi-finalist Karen Khachanov in the last eight.
He has become the youngest Belgian major quarter-finalist in the Open Era (since 1968) and just the fourth player from his country to reach this stage of a Grand Slam.
However, he has an injury concern going into that encounter. Blockx told commentator and analyst Gill Gross that he is “worried” about the next round and he nearly retired against the Argentine. Moreover, he hinted he was in ‘too much pain’ to feel nervous against Cerundolo.
He said, “Even though there’s a lot of medication in my body right now, I still feel it.”
It would be a tragedy if Blockx was unable to make it onto court to take on Khachanov in the quarter-finals. If he did, Blockx would join the 14 ATP Tour players who pulled out of the US Open through injury.
The ATP issued a statement on this matter but for now, no schedule changes, or calendar reforms are planned. It remains to be seen what state the youngster will be in for that last-eight battle.
