Frances Tiafoe left Novak Djokovic’s executioner on the way and advanced to the quarterfinals

Frances Tiafoe He won at midnight this Monday against the Australian Alexei Popyrin, executioner of the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the second round, and advanced to the US Open quarterfinals.

Tiafoe, idol of the Arthur Ashe court fans, who supported him from the first moment, showed powerful tennis and a big heart, and won with sets of 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6 and 6-3

Popyrin, recent champion in Montreal and number 28 in the world ranking, had put together an outstanding performance against Djokovic, current champion in New York, defeating him in four sets.

However, in New York he met a Tiafoe (20th) who took the first set 6-4 and came back from a break in the second, to take it to three in the tiebreaker.

Popyrin’s reaction was forceful in the third set, won 6-2, but Tiafoe stepped on the accelerator again in the fourth and sealed his round pass in three hours and two minutes.

It was the first absolute confrontation between these players, who have a strong bond of friendship and who exchanged a heartfelt hug at the end of the game.

Tiafoe now faces the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who eliminated the Russian Andrey Rublev (n.6) after winning a three-way battle 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6 and 6-3. hours and 39 minutes.

The American player reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the third consecutive time, something that no tennis player from his country has achieved since Andy Roddick did it, between 2006 and 2008.

In a competition in which only two Grand Slam champions survive (Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev), Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz resolved their duels and will meet again in the quarterfinals.

The German and the American experienced a high-tension duel in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, in which Fritz came back two sets against a Zverev with knee problems.

“The difference now is that I am healthy,” clarified the world number four after beating the American Brandon Nakashima this Sunday 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2.

Fritz, number 12 in the ATP, also had to row to beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2.

After Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, the American tennis player Coco Gauff This Sunday she handed over her US Open champion crown in the round of 16 of the women’s branch.

At 20 years old, Gauff was facing the defense of her only Grand Slam title but her hopes of following in Williams’ footsteps faded due to a great performance by Navarro and her own mistakes.

The American was convicted of up to 19 double faults, several of them in decisive moments of the game, and 60 unforced errors.

Unlike his previous defeat against Navarro at Wimbledon, this time Gauff fought until the end with the encouragement of the more than 20,000 fans on center court.

Navarro, who is experiencing the best year of her career, resisted the push until settling for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory and being congratulated on the net by a glassy-eyed Gauff.

“Mentally and emotionally I gave everything,” he later told the press. “I would have liked to serve better. If I had done that, this match would have been a different story. But Emma played very well.”

Navarro, born in New York, will fight for her first major semifinals against the Spanish Paula Badosa, who was also born and lived her first six years in the ‘Big Apple’.

With information from agencies.