Two U.S. men earned berths in the U.S. Open quarterfinals by registering fourth-round wins on Sunday in New York.
No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz delivered 24 aces and reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second straight year by notching a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway in afternoon action.
In the night session, No. 20 Frances Tiafoe outlasted No. 28 Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 to make the quarterfinals in New York for the third year in a row.
Fritz had a 56-32 edge in winners while outplaying Ruud. He finished the victory in 2 hours, 44 minutes.
“I just had to stay in it because I felt like he outplayed me in the first set,” Fritz said. “I had some chances, he had some chances and he took them.
“He was playing well and I did a really good job to fight at the start of the second to get through some tight service games and apply some scoreboard pressure. I feel his level then maybe dropped a little bit. I was getting more looks on second serves and I could just get through it from there.”
Fritz saved 5 of 6 break points while reaching a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the third time this year. He has never reached the semifinals of a major.
“I am taking it one match at a time to be honest. I think that can add more pressure,” Fritz said. “I came in 2022 saying I could win it and I lost first round. I think it is good to take it one match at a time.”
Fritz will face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev in the quarters. The German defeated Brandon Nakashima of the United States 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday, the second consecutive match in which Zverev lost the first set before winning the next three.
Zverev won 88 percent of his first-serve points and facing just one break point in the match. He wound up with a 51-18 advantage in winners and a 14-6 edge in aces.
Tiafoe moved within one win of tying the best result of his Grand Slam career, a semifinal berth at the 2022 U.S. Open.
“I always dreamt about playing on this court [since I was] a kid. I used to hit against the wall and wanted to compete on this court,” Tiafoe said post-match. “Seeing the Williams sisters win titles here, seeing Roger (Federer) win here a million times, I was like, ‘I just want to play on this court.’ It’s so iconic, obviously named after Arthur Ashe, so I wanted to be a part of that. I think it brings out the best of me.”
Popyrin was coming off a third-round upset of defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the second seed.
Tiafoe moves on to face No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated No. 6 Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3.
The Bulgarian started fast before Rublev rebounded to knot the match before finishing strong to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the eighth time in his career. It is his second time at the U.S. Open. He lost in the semifinals in 2019 against Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
Dimitrov saved 13 of 18 break points and had 17 aces, four below Rublev’s total in the 3-hour, 40-minute marathon. Rublev had a 47-41 advantage in winners.
“I’m trying to enjoy every single moment and I’m celebrating every day that I get to be out here,” Dimitrov said. “I’m just focusing on myself. I’ve had very tough weeks, with my body and everything. So I just want to focus on my rehab and the good things that I did today, things that I can improve, just keep it as basic as possible, and I’m thrilled to be through to the second week.”
–Field Level Media
