The men’s draw has reached the quarter final stage and the first four to make the mark for the run in to the US Open title next Sunday, are Grigor Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Frances Tiafoe.
Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov, who is enjoying his best run at Flushing Meadows for five years, survived a bruising five setter against Andrei Rublev, while Zverev required four sets to get past Brandon Nakashima as did Fritz against Casper Ruud and Tiafoe in the late match, against Alexei Popyrin.
For Bulgaria’s Dimitrov, it is the second time he has made the last eight at the US Open following a thrilling 6-3 7-6(3) 1-6 3-6 6-3 victory over Russia’s volatile Rublev who found the whole experience frustrating from the opening moments of the match when he was broken to love in the fourth game and despite all his best efforts in the next, fell 1-4 behind.
He even required a medical time out after the fourth game to stem the blood flow from a self-inflicted hand injury following one of his spats with his racket!
Having lost the opener on his second point, Rublev finally managed to breach Dimitrov’s serve in the second to lead 5-3 but failed to build on that as he immediately dropped his own in the next and in the ensuing tiebreak, saw Dimitrov put together six consecutive points to go two sets up.
Finally, Rublev’s efforts were rewarded in the third and he steamed through it in 36-minutes, breaking Dimitrov three times to launch his fightback in style and now with the momentum favoring the world No.6, he followed that up in the fourth with two more breaks to level the match.
Dimitrov managed to stop the Russian’s run by taking advantage of a few of his errors to go 3-1 up in the decider. There then followed a series of excellent exchanges but the Bulgarian held on and served out at the first opportunity.
Reflecting on the match, Dimitrov spoke about the frustration of surrendering a two-set lead and admitted his run was reminiscent of his memorable US Open five years ago when he beat Roger Federer to make the semi-finals.
The 33-year-old said: “I was playing very well in the first two sets, but for some reason my body was starting to lose its rhythm a little bit. I just had to stay patient, and the biggest thing that helped me was my experience.
“I love the atmosphere here; it brings back such good memories from 2019.
“I’ve been trying to enjoy every single moment; I’m celebrating every single day that I get to be out here. I’m focusing on myself.
“I’ve had some very tough weeks with my body, so I just want to focus on my rehab and the good things that I did today.
“I’m thrilled to be here in the second week.”
As the oldest player left in the draw, he is aware that the next few matches will be tough, especially as his next opponent is not just home favorite Frances Tiafoe, but the crowd who will be roaring him on.
“I feel very mature,” he said wryly. “It’s a battle every single day and now where I’m at in my career, it’s all down to experience. Everyone knows how to play great tennis. It all comes down to a few points here and there.
“That’s what actually happened today. A couple of points in the fifth set was enough to get me over the line.
“Every match I play is just going to get tougher and tougher.”
Tiafoe makes the last eight
He had to wait until the evening session was over to discover Tiafoe would be his next obstacle in his run to at least emulate his 2019 run.
And it won’t be a run in the park as the American, seeded 20, defeated Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3, to reach the last eight for a third consecutive year.
Following his victory, Tiafoe said: “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.
“Seeing the Williams sisters win titles here, seeing Roger (Federer) win here a million times, I was like, I want to play on this court and it’s so iconic – obviously named after Arthur Ashe.
“I wanted to be part of that, and it brings out the best in me.
He added: “I’m just taking it day by day, literally. Grand Slams, two weeks, there’s a lot going on.
“You can’t get ahead of yourself and look at what could happen and things shaking out. Everyone is good, so it doesn’t really matter who’s in or who’s not.”
There is now a possibility of two Americans disputing a place in the final, as Taylor Fritz took out his higher seeded opponent Casper Ruud 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2 to set up a quarter final clash with Alexander Zverev, a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 winner over Brandon Nakashima.
The American No.1 recovered well after dropping the first set to the 8th seeded Norwegian, and eventually ease through to become the first American to reach the last eight since Andy Roddick in 2007. Tiafoe then joined him later in the day.
“I think as you get better, your expectations go up,” Fritz said afterwards. “What makes you satisfied, what makes you happy as far as ranking and results, that also goes up.
“I think in the past I’ve been very, very excited, very happy to make quarter finals at Slams. I think I’m at the point now where I’m still happy to make quarter finals, but I wouldn’t be happy with it ending here.”
There were certainly moments on Sunday when Fritz’s self-belief was tested, on one occasion by a bad bounce which he believed came off the line badly.
Fritz earned his first break of the afternoon soon after and ultimately won the match in commanding fashion.
Meanwhile Zverev, who reached the final at the US Open in 2020 when he fell to Austria’s Dominic Thiem, will be hoping to go one better this year and secure his first title at slam level.
He ended the unseeded American Nakashima’s challenge by reaching the quarters for a fourth time whilst notching up his 450th win.
“I was extremely defensive at the beginning of the match and Brandon used it very well and played an awesome set,” Zverev admitted. “I knew that I had to step up my game and take the ball on the rise more and I did well today, and I am happy to be back in the quarter finals.”
Zverev looked on course for a comfortable win in the fourth set when he almost turned his right ankle when chasing a ball down on the forehand wing at 3-1.
Despite showing a look of anguish on his face after the point, Zverev showed little sign of discomfort following the brief scare, winning three of the next four games to advance. The 27-year-old injured his right ankle during his French Open semi-final in 2022 which nearly brought an end to his career.
But he has shown that he is back to full fitness and his form is at a level for him to be seriously contesting for grand slam titles and as the world No.4, Fritz will certainly have to be at peak performance levels if he is to get past the German.
“I am expecting a tough battle,” Zverev said on facing the American, who beat the German at Wimbledon. “Every time I play Taylor it is a tough battle, and I am expecting nothing less and hopefully it will be entertaining.”
With quarter final line-up settled in the bottom half of the draw, it will be interesting to see who fills the remaining spots in the top half, especially from a British perspective as Jack Draper is in the mix.
