NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz surged into the fourth round of the US Open on Friday as American hopes of ending the country’s 22-year wait for a men’s champion suffered a blow with the exits of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.

Spanish second seed Alcaraz breezed past Italian 32nd seed Luciano Darderi in emphatic fashion, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz’s one hour 44-minute victory sends the 2022 US Open champion into a meeting on Sunday against France’s Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated compatriot Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Alcaraz is aiming to finish the season on a high after winning the French Open in June before losing in the final of Wimbledon last month.

The five-time Grand Slam singles champion opened play on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s main court, and admitted he had been nervous about his 11:30am local time start.

“I’m not an early morning person so it’s difficult for me to wake up in the morning,” Alcaraz said. 

“One of the good things today though I woke up early, did the warm up and felt good.

“Starting at 11:30 my first goal is to start well with a good energy and rhythm. I played great tennis, good performance so I’m proud of that.”

Alcaraz needed a medical timeout while leading 5-4 in the second set for treatment on his right knee, but later said he had no injury concerns.

But while Alcaraz was able to shrug off his knee issue, a shoulder injury scuppered Shelton’s hopes of becoming the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003.

The big-serving Shelton, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2023, departed the Louis Armstrong Stadium court in tears after being forced to retire at the end of the fourth set of his match against French veteran Adrian Mannarino.