NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 5, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

American fame has expanded throughout the first week and into the second at this year’s US Open. On Sunday, three American men – Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz – advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. Add to the mix, American teen sensation Coco Gauff has reached the Flushing Meadows final eight for the second straight year.

There’s a very red, white and blue look to this year’s US Open quarterfinals that matches the American Stars and Stripes – and with Shelton facing Tiafoe in one of the quarterfinal tussles Tuesday in prime time, it ensures there will be at least one American man in the US Open semifinals on Friday. However, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. There’s still plenty to be decided on the show courts at Flushing Meadows over the next couple of days.

On Monday, with the remaining quarterfinal berths up for grabs, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula was featured first on Arthur Ashe Stadium against 2017 US Open runner-up Madison Keys in an all-American contest that was very much one-sided in favor of Keys. The Rock Island, Ill. native is putting together arguably the best season of her career – as reflected by a 32-11 win-loss record and second straight major quarterfinal. With her business-like 6-1, 6-3 win over Pegula, who committed 20 unforced errors, the No. 17 seed Keys became the fifth American to reach a US Open singles quarterfinal in two days.

I ♥️ Madison Keys.

Is this guy Madison’s number one fan? pic.twitter.com/hpAxGDT2Kj

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2023

Before the match, Pegula, who was attempting to reach her sixth quarterfinal in her last eight majors, said of her friend and foe Keys: “You know, if [she’s] having a good day, you’re in for it.”

In back of her big forehand, Keys struck 21 winners and broke Pegula’s serve five times during the 61-minute victory, her 30th career triumph at the US Open and 101st major match twin overall. She improved to 7-2 against American opposition this season.

“It’s always tough having to play a friend,” said Keys, 28, now 1-1 lifetime against Pegula, a year her senior. “We’ve been doing it basically our whole lives. When we’re on court, it’s all business. When we’re off court, we go back to being friends.”

Later, in her news conference, Keys added: “I think you just take every match as another match. Obviously that gets a little bit tougher as you get closer to the end of the tournament, but I think just being honest with yourself that it’s fine if you start feeling some nerves and pressure and things like that, but at the end of the day it’s just another tennis match.”

https://twitter.com/usopen/status/1698842292390359172

Meanwhile, unseeded American Peyton Stearns, a former NCAA titlist from the University of Texas, took on No. 9 seed and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who for a set looked like would contribute to a U.S. sweep of the women’s afternoon matches. However, it was short lived. Vondrousova persevered through a sore arm to win her 11th straight Grand Slam match. The Czech lefty came from a set down and beat Stearns, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, after converting seven of 12 break points and taking advantage of 21 third-set unforced errors.

Afterward, in her on-court interview, the 24-year-old Vondrousova admitted she didn’t expect to reach back-to-back major quarterfinals. “I’m very happy. I actually didn’t expect it. After Wimbledon, it was a lot of pressure,” she said. “I’m just trying to enjoy the game. I feel like every match is very tough. We’ll see what happens next.”

With World No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek being knocked out in the fourth round by No. 20 Jelena Ostapenko, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, late Sunday night, it means the US Open will have a first-time women’s champion come Saturday. No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who will ascend to No. 1 next week – ending the 75-week reign of Swiatek – took on No. 13 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia for the seventh time and won for the fifth, 6-1, 6-3, behind 31 winners Monday evening. She pressured Kasatkina into 22 forced errors and broke the Russian seven times.

“All year, I’ve been pushing myself so hard to reach this goal, to become World No. 1,” said Sabalenka in her post-match interview on Arthur Ashe Stadium. “It means a lot for me, means a lot for my family. It’s just unbelievable, it’s crazy. I still can’t believe it. I was afraid I’ll be distracted by this news today, so I was super focused.”

Next, the reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka will face No. 23 seed Zheng Qinwen of China, who advanced to her first major quarterfinal after beating No. 5 seed and 2022 US Open finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 6-2, 6-4, on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Zheng hit 21 winners and benefited from six breaks of Jabeur’s serve.

“I just feel super happy and excited to play on a big stadium,” said a smiling Zheng in her on-court interview. “Ons is a fantastic player and she’s really tough to beat. She has a lot of variation. That was a really impressive win for me.”

Qinwen Zheng scores a win over a top-5 opponent and a spot in the #USOpen quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/ZpiSMvgh06

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2023

Alcaraz matches Agassi record, advances to third straight US Open quarterfinal

Defending men’s champion and top seed Carlos Alcaraz needed just an hour and 59 minutes to beat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the last eight on Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday afternoon. In doing so, Alcaraz became just the second man in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach three US Open quarterfinals under the age of 21. The first was Hall of Famer Andre Agassi, who achieved the feat from 1988-90.

Alcaraz, who is trying to become the first player since Roger Federer in 2008 to successfully defend his US Open crown, improved to 15-1 at Flushing Meadows. He ended the surprising run of Arnaldi, 22, who was making his US Open debut and strung together wins over Jason Kubler, Arthur Fils and No. 16 seed Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round. The 61st-ranked Italian improved his ranking to No. 47.

https://twitter.com/usopen/status/1698796102697259298

“Right now, my favorite surface is hard court and when I won Wimbledon I said I fell in love with grass,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I am really comfortable with the three surfaces, but right now hard courts is my favorite one.”

Alcaraz, who improved to 20-3 on hard courts this season, will face Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. The 12th-seeded German fought past No. 6 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy in the last match of the day in Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday night 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 after four hours and 41 minutes.

Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner treated the #USOpen to a classic! pic.twitter.com/XJ5WBReKnJ

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2023

Meanwhile, No. 8 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia is through to his fourth US Open quarterfinal after ending the spirited run of 21-year-old Briton Jack Draper, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 44 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Rublev struck 44 winners against Draper and improved his head-to-head record against the British lefty to 3-0.

“Since the first point, I was feeling the ball really well and I felt that Jack was also playing really well,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “But I was able to break him and then I thought, ‘OK, let’s make it as long a match as possible, physical wise.’ Physically, I was a bit more fit because he is coming back from injury and in the fourth set you could see that. Jack was tiring and not playing the same way and I was able to add extra speed and finish the match.”

Although Rublev is 0-8 in major quarterfinals, don’t count him out. This is his third final eight appearance this season after reaching this stage at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He will face fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev, the third-seeded 2021 US Open champion, who defeated No. 13 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, behind 11 aces and 30 winners.

“He’s a great player,” Medvedev said of his friend and fellow Russian. “He beat me, I think, two times before. We usually have a great level during our matches. So, it’s gonna be great to do it.”

Around the US Open

Men’s doubles No. 1 seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of Great Britain were upset by No. 15 seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, both of the United States, 7-6 (2), 6-3. The highest remaining seeds are No. 2 Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of the United States. Defending champions Rajeev Ram of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain, seeded third, are one of six seeded teams going into the quarterfinal round.

By the numbers

• Carlos Alcaraz, 20, of Spain, who became the second man in the Open Era to reach three US Open quarterfinals under the age of 21 along with Andre Agassi from 1988-1990 with his victory Monday, is also looking to become the first man to reach the quarterfinals or better in his first three US Open appearances since Johan Kriek from 1978-80.

• Since winning her French Open title in 2017 as an unseeded 20-year-old, Jelena Ostapenko has advanced to the fourth round at a major just five times. Her Sunday night upset of top seed and defending US Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced her to her first US Open quarterfinal appearance.

• Matteo Arnaldi, 22, of Italy, was ranked No. 187 a year ago when he lost in the final round of US Open qualifying. Fast forward, this time, he came in ranked No. 61 and will crack the Top 50 at No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings next week.

• Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus now has 21 wins in Grand Slam competitions this season. She has reached the quarterfinals or further at all four majors in 2023.

“Quotable …”

• “I wouldn’t say relief. There are plenty of things I know I should’ve done differently. Maybe I’m not mature enough yet to do that. I’m working hard not to think about this stuff a lot … when I’m gonna be in the same situation next time, I’m gonna do things differently. For sure, it was a bit stressful, and it shouldn’t be. Tennis is stressful overall, but I should embrace it a bit more.”

– Iga Swiatek of Poland, on being asked if she felt relief after losing the No. 1 ranking following her fourth-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko Sunday night.

• “That’s amazing, obviously, for the [U.S. Tennis Association], for the US Open as well. All of the guys – Fritz, Shelton and Tiafoe – [use a] big serve, just very aggressive play.”

– Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who will face American No. 1 Taylor Fritz in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.

• “I’m just going to have to take him, down, try to be the vet and get the win. It’s going to be a great atmosphere [and] I think great representation for people of color, right? Two people of color playing in the quarterfinals, huge match on Arthur Ashe – it’s a pretty monumental moment. I’m pretty excited to compete against him.”

– Frances Tiafoe of the United States, following his fourth-round victory Sunday, looking ahead to his quarterfinal match on Tuesday against fellow American Ben Shelton.

• “Obviously, I want to win every match that I play, but at the same time, I want to have fun, try different things, make the people enjoy watching tennis and watching my matches.”

– Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who is the US Open men’s defending champion.