New York, Sep 2 The 20th seed Francis Tiafoe registered a 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 win to fend off giant-slayer Alexei Popyrin and reach the US Open quarterfinals for a third consecutive year.
Popyrin scribed his name in US Open lore when he sent defending champion Novak Djokovic tumbling out of the draw just 48 hours prior to Sunday’s fourth-round contest.
With the win, Tiafoe continues to make history for American men’s tennis, becoming the fourth American man to appear in three US Open quarterfinals since 2000. The feat puts him in elite company with Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras as the only other men to do so this century.
Tiafoe looks to keep his momentum going in the quarterfinals against No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov, who eliminated sixth seed Andrey Rublev earlier in the day. The Bulgarian holds a 3-1 edge over Tiafoe in head-to-head record.
In other action, Alexander Zverev of Germany ended American Brandon Nakashima’s run to reach the quarter-finals in New York for the fourth time.
Zverev recovered from scratchy play in the first set and won 29 first-serve points in a row to end Nakashima's dream run, defeating the American, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in two-hour, 38-minute and notched his 450th win.
Zverev will next face Taylor Fritz in a rematch of their fourth-round battle at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
On the other hand, No. 1 American Fritz fired past 2022 US Open runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals in New York for the second consecutive year.
Fritz will be trying to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time when he takes to court on Tuesday, having fallen in the quarter-finals four times.
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