Jack Draper conquered the fourth round of the US Open, propelling himself into his maiden grand slam quarter-final by outclassing Tomas Machac. The sterling performance by the Briton throughout the tournament so far has seen him secure all victories without dropping a set, evident in his 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win, having triumphed in 16 out of 19 games. This achievement places him as the first British male to advance to the US Open quarter-finals since Andy Murray’s showing in 2016.
“I am deeply enjoying the New York experience and urge myself to continue pressing forward. The enormity of these stages does not daunt me but rather fills me with anticipation for Wednesday’s match,” he expressed.
Meanwhile, having successfully progressed to the quarter-finals following an emphatic win over Nunes Borges, Daniil Medvedev happens to be in contention for a grand slam blockbuster. Borges secured only one game in the first two sets, succumbing to Medvedev’s dominance with a comprehensive 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 defeat.
In the women’s bracket, Jessica Pegula has continued to impress, dispatching Diana Shnaider of Russia with a solid 6-4, 6-2 win. Pegula, a sixth seed who was absent from the French Open due to injury, yet clinched victory at a Canadian US Open warm-up event, observed that her performance is steadily advancing in line with the demanding second week of the grand slam.
“This was probably the most comfortable I felt so far, hence my goal is to keep improving and continue projecting my top flight tennis in the upcoming rounds,” Pegula commented.
“There tends to be considerable pressure playing here, which is something I thrive on. There is an element of pride and support as an American playing on home turf.” she added.
Karolina Muchova, a standout Czech tennis player, who has so far managed to avoid losing a set during the competition, surprised everyone by defeating Italian fifth seed Jasmine Paolini, hitting an impressive 17 winners in a 6-3, 6-3 victory. Despite a wrist surgery hiatus of ten months, Muchova seems to have regained her form after triumphing over the former two-time champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
During an earlier phase of the tournament, an unfortunate comment from ESPN commentator Chris Evert, implying that the Czech was trying to “play like a man”, led to an apology after Muchova’s successful match against Osaka. In response to the comment, Muchova said she didn’t think she played in a male style and seemed unsure as to what Evert meant by her comment. She also commented on drawing some inspiration from men’s tennis, specifically mentioning names like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Separately, play had to be temporarily paused during the fourth round of the US Open due to a fire alarm sounding in the building that houses the technical booth, the hub for Hawkeye operations. The line calling at Flushing Meadows relies entirely on the Hawkeye system, eschewing the traditional on-court line judges. Officials could be seen vacating the video replay room in video footage shown on television, subsequent to the interruption in play.