"Beyond shameful"; "Tennis is f**ked" - Novak Djokovic fans accuse US Open of favoritism with controversial Carlos Alcaraz SF scheduling

The Arthur Ashe Stadium gears up to witness a remarkable semifinal duel between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz on Friday. However, Djokovic fans were not impressed with the timing of the match, with their clash being scheduled during the day at 3:00 PM ET (GMT-4).

Djokovic and Alcaraz have established themselves as arch-rivals, as tennis fans await an extraordinary showdown. The Serb leads their head-to-head 5-3 and has also won their last four hard court meetings, which cements his spot as a favorite to win the semifinal clash.

However, some fans furiously pointed out how the timing of the match has been scheduled to favour the Spaniard. They also accused the organisers of the tournament of deliberately trying to set up a final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, aiming to recreate the last two Grand Slam finals (French Open and Wimbledon).

Here are some of the fan reactions:

"Mafia at work bunch of crap ppl Tennis is f**cked," posted a fan

"Of course. This is the biggest match by far. Beyond shameful but also blatant," stated another fan.

"What's surprising? They want an Alcaraz and Sinner final and didn't want to risk night time conditions helping Djokovic," another wrote.

"Of course they’re gonna make an aging Novak play in the hot New York sun for the most grueling match to date. Tennis media want that Sinner vs Alcaraz match so bad. They’re not even trying to hide it," pointed out one fan.

"1000000%. They know Carlos is more susceptible at night and didn't want to take that risk. Absolutely no one is tuning in for a night prime time match of Sinner and FAA," chimed in another.

Novak Djokovic won in his last meeting against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal match of the Australian Open earlier this year.

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Carlos Alcaraz warns Novak Djokovic ahead of US Open SF meeting

Carlos Alcaraz sent out a warning to Novak Djokovic after taking a dominant 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jiri Lehecka in the US Open quarterfinal on Monday. The Spaniard has not dropped a set yet in the tournament and would hope to seal his extraordinary run with a maiden title win at the tournament.

After the win, Alcaraz announced that he would like to settle scores with the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the semifinal. In the post-match press conference, he said:

“Novak, we all know Novak's game. It doesn't matter that he has been out of the Tour since Wimbledon. [He’s] playing great matches here. I know he's hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let's see. I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want revenge. That's obvious.”

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in 2024 and would hope to echo the same results at Flushing Meadows on Friday.