Memorable moments of day 7:On a particularly busy Sunday night at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center this Labor Day weekend, fans packed Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev and No. 23 seed Nick Kyrgios go to work in a Round of 16 match that easily could have been the men’s singles final.
Immediately afterward, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur—the highest-ranked African and Arab in WTA history, seeded fifth at this tournament—competed against Veronika Kudermetova, who hadn’t dropped a set all tournament ahead of her fourth-round clash.
But in the city that never sleeps, there were plenty of other highlights throughout the day. Two elite Spaniards fell in epic five-setters: No. 13 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy took down Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Karen Khachanov, the No.27 seed, upset No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
That said, it was hard to steal the spotlight from 18-year-old, No. 12 seed Coco Gauff, who advanced in two tough sets against China’s Zhang Shuai.
Doubles action also dotted the grounds, along with the first matches of the US Open Junior Championships.
Kyrgios, Gauff raise the volume in Arthur Ashe Stadium:
In one of the biggest matches of the 2022 US Open thus far, Australia’s Kyrgios showed he was still in top form after reaching the men’s singles final at Wimbledon. He defeated current world No. 1 Medvedev, this tournament’s defending singles champion, in under three hours: 7-6(11), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
It was an especially fast-paced and hard-hitting Round of 16 match, with both players soaked in sweat by the end of the opening set. The stats were nearly identical, as Kyrgios and Medvedev claimed a similar number of first-serve points won: 64/85 (75%) for the No. 23 seed, and 56/75 (also 75%) for the top seed.
After losing his Round 4 match, Medvedev will soon be stripped of his world No. 1 status.
Earlier in Ashe: France’s lucky loser Corentin Moutet finally met an end at the 2022 US Open, falling in four to No. 5 seed Casper Ruud of Norway: 6-1, 6-2, 6(4)-7, 6-2.
Ruud successfully fended off his eager opponent in the first two sets, but couldn’t manage Moutet’s risky, speedy shotmaking in the third set. A third-set tiebreak just barely went Moutet’s way, costing the world No. 7 an extra 48 minutes on court.
The court’s first and last women’s matches of the day also showcased incredible talent. No. 12 seed Gauff of the United States took two hours to contain and eliminate China’s Zhang, 7-5, 7-5.
The Roland Garros singles and doubles runner-up now reaches the US Open quarterfinals for the very first time.
No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur closed out the night by defeating No. 18 seed Veronika Kudermetova, 7-6(1), 6-4, ending the latter’s six-set win streak at the 2022 US Open.
Meanwhile, in Louis Armstrong Stadium:
Matteo Berrettini, the No.13 seed from Italy, took five sets to defeat unseeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov flipped the script on No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, squeaking out a win over five sets and three hours, 21 minutes. The victory bumps Khachanov to his first US Open quarterfinal, and the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career.
In women’s singles, Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic—who famously defeated Serena Williams in over three hours on Friday—kept her magical run alive by downing Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, 7-(8), 6-1. The opening set took 81 minutes, longer than some best-of-three matches.
Caroline Garcia, who has been on fire this tournament, blazed past the No. 29 seed Alison Riske-Amritraj of the United States in an hour and 22 minutes, 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles action heats up:
The 2022 US Open doubles draws have advanced to the quarterfinals.
In the Grandstand, No. 1 seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury—the defending men’s doubles champions from the United States and Great Britain, respectively—defeated Italian No. 15 seeds Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, 6-1, 7-5, in one hour, 15 minutes.
No. 3 seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer also won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(9). Both teams head to the quarterfinals.
Women’s doubles saw No. 2 seeds Zhang Shuai and Mate Pavic, from China and Croatia, defeat Americans Madison Keys and Bjorn Fratangelo 6-4, 6-2.
In the second round of mixed, wild cards Caty McNally and William Blumberg of the United States defeated No. 1 seeds (and defending champions) Desirae Krawczyk and partner Neal Skupski.
Jack Sock and Leylah Fernandez—the U.S. Olympic gold medalist and the 2021 US Open women’s singles runner-up, respectively—bested Gabriela Dabrowski and Max Purcell, 6-4, 7-6(4), on Court 17.
Juniors underway:
The boy’s and girls’ singles competitions kicked off Sunday with No. 1 seed Sofia Costoulas of Belgium winning her girls’ singles Round 1 match, and No. 2 seed Gilles Arnaud Bailly winning his boys’ singles match. Each took an hour to claim victory in straight sets.
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