American Jessica Pegula returns a shot to Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic during their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open on Tuesday in New York. (AP photo)

NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz finger-wagged the crowd, beat Jiri Lehecka to the net and cruised into the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

The second-seeded Spaniard beat Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, making some highlight-reel shots and putting his hand to his ear afterward to encourage more cheers from fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It’s his first hard-court semifinal appearance at a major since winning his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2023.

“I kind of met the Grand Slam version of Carlos,” Lehecka said. “He just showed that he is one of the contenders, for sure. Everyone knew that, and he proved that.”

Alcaraz is just 22 years old and is in the semifinals at a major for the ninth time. Only Rafael Nadal with 10 has more before turning 23.

Next up for Alcaraz is either Taylor Fritz or Novak Djokovic, who knocked him out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinals. Alcaraz would supplant Jannik Sinner — whom he lost to in the Wimbledon final and beat in the French Open final — atop the rankings if he wins the U.S. Open for a second time.

“It’s really difficult not to think about it,” Alcaraz said. “Every time that I step on the court, I am trying not to think about it. If I think about the No. 1 spot too much, I think I’m going to put pressure on myself and I just don’t want to do that.”

Pegula reaches semis

On the women’s side, Jessica Pegula broke through her quarterfinal wall again at the U.S. Open, defeating Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-3 to get to the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament for just the second time in her career.

She failed to advance into the semis in her first 22 main draw appearances at a major before reaching the final at Flushing Meadows a year ago, when she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. They’ll meet again in the semifinals on Thursday after Sabalenka advanced in a walkover when Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of injury.

“My biggest accomplishment last year was just getting past the quarterfinals,” Pegula said. “Now I can say I’ve done it twice.”

Pegula, who was eliminated in the fourth round at the Australian Open, the third round at the French Open and the first round at Wimbledon, is the first woman to make back-to-back U.S. Open semifinals without losing a set since Serena Williams from 2011-14.

“I’ve been able to kind of go into those matches and really take care of business,” Pegula said. “I’ve played good players but (gotten) convincing wins over those players.”

Pegula, 31, is seeded fourth at the U.S. Open and aiming for her first Grand Slam championship. She and No. 8 Amanda Anisimova are the only Americans left in the women’s singles field.

Also on Tuesday

Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez are set to face the top-seeded pair of Townsend and Katerina Siniakova in the women’s doubles quarterfinals. Fritz against Djokovic is the nightcap.

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This story has been corrected to show that Pegula failed to advance into the semifinals of her first 22 majors, not 23, dating to her trip to the 2024 U.S Open final.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis