With the singles spotlight now exclusively on Arthur Ashe Stadium, four quarterfinal matchups took center stage. Leylah Fernandez continued her storybook run through the New York draw by winning the match of the day in a third-set tiebreak, while a pair of world No. 2s—Daniil Medvedev and Aryna Sabalenka—also dealt themselves into the final four.
Day 9 ended early, as Felix Auger-Aliassime was the benificiary of a mid-match retirement from 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the Ashe nightcap.
The men's and mixed doubles quarterfinals also concluded on Tuesday, with the semifinals set in both competitions.
Here's how it all happened at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Fernandez does it again: For the third straight match, the Canadian won a third set against a card-carrying member of the WTA's elite. After edging Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber to reach the quarterfinals, Fernandez again found herself in a decider against Tokyo bronze medalist Elina Svitolina, the world No. 5.
The magic continued as the 19-year-old unveiled her latest trick—a veteran-like ability to reset at the crucial moments—after failing to capitalize on a 5-2 final-set lead. Svitolina closed to 5-all, and battled to deuce in Fernandez's 5-all service game. But the Canadian won a pivotal 23-ball rally, then fired a big serve to escape.
In the breaker, Fernandez saw a 4-1 lead vanish, then won a 19-ball rally to pull ahead once more. The moment of the match came at 5-all, when her on-the-run forehand pass clipped the net and bounded down the line, past a stranded Svitolina. Another big serve ended it, sending the youngster to the floor in celebration with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 victory.
"Today's match was definitely one of the hardest, not only tennis-wise but also mentally and emotionally. Svitolina is a great player, great fighter," Fernandez said in her post-match presser. "I'm glad I was able to recuperate for the third set. The tiebreaker, too. A little bit lucky at 5-all, but I'll take all the luck I can get. I was glad I was able to push through the finish line."
Medvedev into third straight US Open semi: The Russian dropped his first set of the fortnight, but only after winning a bagel second stanza against qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp. The surprise quarterfinalist showed he belonged by winning the third and battling to 5-all in the fourth, but Medvedev avoided any further drama by breaking in the final game of a 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 win.
“I’m happy with my game in the fourth set because on my serve I lost maybe two points," said the Russian. "At 6-5, he got a little bit tight, and I managed to do it without the tiebreaker,”
No surprise, the high-IQ Medvedev was right on the money with that stat—on his first serve, he won 21 of 23 points in the fourth set. For the match, he converted first-serve points at an 83% clip, while winning 42% of total points on the reurn.
The 2019 US Open finalist's ability to dominate on serve and hang tight on the return are a deadly combination, and a big part of the reason the No. 2 seed sailed through to the final eight.
Sabalenka into second straight major semi: The women's No. 2 seed did not need an extra frame on Tuesday, though she did have to navigate a number of lengthy deuce games in her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Barbora Krejcikova.
The first set was far more competitive than the score suggests, with the Belarusian winning games of 14, 14, and 10 points as she built her advantage.
Sabalenka scored an early break in set two, and it proved enough as she never faced a break point in the second.
Auger-Aliassime advances after Alcaraz retires: With the Canadian leading by a set and a break, 6-3, 3-1, Alcaraz was forced to retire with a right adductor injury. After just 68 minutes of play, Auger-Aliassime advanced to face Medvedev in the semifinals.
Men's, mixed doubles semis set: Three Americans will share the court in one of the men's singles semifinals, as Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey will face Rajeev Ram and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury. Both teams won tiebreaks to advance, with Johnson and Querrey winning in straights in Armstrong, and the American-British pairing winning a 12-10 third-set decider in the Grandstand.
Tweet of the Day: The 2021 breakout star has a fan in our 2017 champion.
Quote of the Day: "I don't think about him [Djokovic], because as we saw, anybody can beat anybody. If he's in the final, and if I'm there, I'm happy. He's also happy, I guess. So, yeah, every time, you know, because he plays on the days where I don't play, I watch his matches just because I enjoy watching tennis... I'm not going to root or cheer for somebody. I'm just gonna enjoy the tennis and then prepare for the winner. It's same every match." — Daniil Medvedev on the possibility of facing the world No. 1 in the final
Photo of the Day: 2009 US Open men’s singles champion Juan Martin del Potro suited up to watch Medvedev defeat van de Zandschulp. He later dressed down as he took to the practice courts to hit with John McEnroe.
