Red-hot Tiafoe makes third-straight US Open quarter-final

American Frances Tiafoe, the No 20 seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the US Open by defeating Australian Alexei Popyrin, the No 28 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 in New York on Sunday night.

Tiafoe has now made the quarter-finals of the US Open three years in a row, and is 19-4 in New York since 2020. He will played No 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

“I always dreamed about playing this court from [when I was] a kid,” declared Tiafoe after his victory over Popyrin. “I used to hit against a wall and want to compete on this court.”

“You know, seen the Williams sisters win titles here, seen Roger win here a million times. I was like, I just want to play on this court. It’s so iconic, obviously named after Arthur Ashe, so I wanted to be a part of that.

“It brings out the best in me.”

Tiafoe returns brilliantly, gets out of jail in second set

Tiafoe put on a second serve returning clinic on Sunday night, regularly punishing Popyrin’s second serve with brutal returns.

He won an impressive 57 percent of Popyrin’s second serve points, hitting multiple return winners that forced the Aussie to go for more on the shot. This led to nine double faults from Popyrin’s end, some of which came at crucial moments in the match.

None more so than when Tiafoe was down 5-3 and 40-0 in the second set, with Popyrin holding three set points.

The American went after his returns, winning five points in a row to break back. He would eventually win the set in a tiebreak, going up two sets to love with a raucous Arthur Ashe crowd behind him.

“He was serving 5-3, 40-0, I was like well I’m pretty sweaty, I’m sweating through my shoes, I’m about to go change and win this thing in four,” Tiafoe explained of the pivotal moment in the match.

“And then I went for it, won another point and I was like oh. He gave me one, and I was like don’t let me get two. Then I was like don’t let me get three. Then I was like I might as well break now.

“So, I got pretty lucky, honestly.”

Tiafoe had a dip in the third set, making just half of his first serves and spraying nine unforced errors while Popyrin raised his level, not making a single double fault and hitting 12 winners to just two unforced errors.

However, the American wrested back momentum in the fourth, playing some of his best tennis as he closed the match out.

Earlier in the tournament, the American won against Aleksandar Kovacevic (6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5), Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko (6-4, 6-1, 1-0 ret.) and No 13 seed Ben Shelton (4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3).

Popyrin, ranked No 28, beat SoonWoo Kwon (7-5, 6-2, 6-3), Spaniard Pedro Martinez Portero (6-2, 6-4, 6-0) and Serb Novak Djokovic, the second seed (6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the US Open.

New York (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):

• Jannik Sinner vs. Tommy Paul
• Alex De Minaur vs. Jordan Thompson
• Nuno Borges vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Jack Draper vs. Tomas Machac
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Brandon Nakashima: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Casper Ruud (8): 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Andrey Rublev (6): 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3