Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev remain on course for a titanic quarterfinal battle after two straightforward third-round matches at the US Open on Saturday.
Sinner, who came from two sets down to defeat Medvedev at the 2024 Australian Open final, breezed past Australia’s Christopher O’Connell in straight sets, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the afternoon session on Arthur Ashe without even facing a break point.
Medvedev, meanwhile, overcame Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the night session on Ashe session to set up a fourth-round clash with Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who ousted Jakub Mensik in a five-set thriller on Saturday afternoon.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw on Saturday, Tommy Paul made it four Americans in the last 16 with a hard-fought, four-set victory over Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo. Paul faces the unenviable task of taking on a rampant Sinner in the last-16 on Monday.
Botic van de Zandschulp, who stunned Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday, could not repeat his heroics against Britain’s Jack Draper, falling to a convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 defeat. Draper will take on Tomas Machac on Monday after the Czech enjoyed an equally comfortable straight-sets victory over David Goffin.
Alex De Minaur and Jordan Thompson ensured at least one Australian will reach the last eight with victories over Britain’s Dan Evans and Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi respectively.
There was little drama in the women’s draw on Saturday, with each of the eight third-round matches ending in straight sets.
Women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek sailed into the last 16 with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the night session on Arthur Ashe. Swiatek will face another Russian in the last-16 after Liudmila Samsonova eased to a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Ashlyn Krueger.
Jessica Pegula booked her place in the fourth round with a straight-sets victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and will face Diana Schnaider after the Russian also enjoyed a comfortable straight-sets win against Sara Errani.
Fifth seed Jessica Paolini set up a mouthwatering match against Karolina Muchova after both women eased past Anastasia Potapova and Yulia Putintseva respectively, while former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki will take on 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia after comfortable victories against Jessika Ponchet and Anna Kalinskaya.
In the pick of the fourth-round match-ups on Sunday, 2023 champion Coca Gauff will take on 13 seed Emma Navarro in an All-American affair in the afternoon session on Arthur Ashe, with Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng taking on Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the night session. Paula Badosa faces off against Wang Yafan in the afternoon session on Louis Armstrong, with US Open favorite Aryna Sabalenka taking on Elise Mertens in the night session.
In the men’s draw, Frances Tiafoe takes on Alexei Popyrin – conqueror of Novak Djokovic – in a mouthwatering match-up in the night session on Ashe, while Andrey Rublev takes on Grigor Dimitrov in a compelling match-up in the afternoon session.
There is plenty of American interest on Armstrong on Sunday, with Taylor Fritz taking on 2022 finalist Casper Ruud in the afternoon session and 2020 finalist Alexander Zverev taking on Brandon Nakashima in the night session.
