Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz found himself in a hint of a predicament 35 minutes into his US Open quarterfinal against Alexander Zverev.

At 3-all in the first set under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night, Zverev earned the first break points of the match. An opening. An opportunity to gain an early edge against the defending champion. And then ¿ poof! ¿ gone. Alcaraz dismissed those chances to hold, then gained a break himself in the next game by depositing an overhead that bounced into the stands. One more service hold arrived and, just like that, the set belonged to Alcaraz, as did, eventually, a spot in the semifinals.