New York: Daniil Medvedev will set up a potential US Open quarter-final showdown with world number one Jannik Sinner on Monday as both look to exploit the huge void left by the unexpected exits of superstars Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
2021 New York champion Medvedev defeated Nuno Borges 6-0, 6-1, 6-3, who is looking to become the first Portuguese male player to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
Top seed Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam at this year's Australian Open, will face Tommy Paul in the night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Meanwhile, French Open champion and women’s world number one Iga Swiatek will look to take a step closer to a second U.S. Open title when she takes on Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the 2022 US Open.
Medvedev, the only former champion left after four-time champion Djokovic and 2022 champion Alcaraz fell, reached his fifth quarterfinal in six years.
World No. 5 Medvedev easily defeated No. 34 Borges, who collapsed under the weight of 51 unforced errors while Medvedev broke serve eight times.
“I played Tommy twice this season. I beat him once, but I felt he should have beaten me both times,” Medvedev said.
“I had an incredible fight with Jannik. It was very intense for both of us.”
Sinner, 23, will face American Paul, hoping to become the only male player to reach the quarterfinals of any of the four Grand Slams this year.
The Italian player reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 New York Open but wasted a match point in losing to eventual champion Alcaraz.
Paul, the 14th seed, is looking to advance to the quarterfinals along with compatriots Francis Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz as the American looks to win his first men's Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick won in 2003 in New York.
If Sinner advances, he will meet Medvedev for the fourth time this year.
Sinner came back from two sets down to beat the erratic Medvedev in the Australian Open final and won the Miami Open semifinals.
Medvedev won in five sets in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Jack Draper became the first British male player to reach the quarter-finals since Andy Murray in 2016 when he defeated Czech player Tomasz Machak 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
The 22-year-old left-hander lost serve just once in four matches en route to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, winning 47 of 48 service games and saving 20 of 21 break points.
Draper heaped praise on the influence of Murray, a former world No. 1 and 2012 U.S. Open champion who retired from tennis after the Paris Olympics.
“He’s a legend and an icon and if I could have half the career he’s had, I’d be happy,” said the 25th seed, who will face either Alex de Minaur or Jordan Thompson in an all-Australian battle later on Monday.
Swiatek, playing in her 100th Grand Slam match, will face No. 16 seed Samsonova, who is bidding for her first quarterfinal berth at a Grand Slam tournament.
Poland's Swiatek leads Samsonova 3-0, but the 25-year-old Russian will be encouraged by reaching the quarter-finals of two WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati on the eve of the US Open.
If Swiatek wins, she will face American sixth seed Jessica Pegula, who reached her second quarterfinal by defeating Russian Diana Schneider 6-4, 6-2.
Caroline Wozniacki, runner-up to Serena Williams in 2014, will face Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
The winner of that match will face 2023 semifinalist Karolina Muchova, who eliminated fifth-seeded Jasmine Paolini, the French Open and Wimbledon runner-up, 6-3, 6-3.
Muchova, ranked 52nd, returned to the tour in June after a 10-month break due to a wrist injury. She has not dropped a set so far and eliminated two-time champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
