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Can Grigor Dimitrov add a Grand Slam title challenge to his resurgent 2024?

The Bulgarian withstood a stirring comeback from Andrey Rublev to clinch victory in a pulsating fourth-round US Open clash on Sunday afternoon in New York. The ninth-seeded Dimitrov kept his cool for a 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 triumph after three hours and 39 minutes inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Two of the cleanest baseline ballstrikers on the ATP Tour produced some scintillating rallies for an engrossed crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Although Dimitrov fired fewer winners than Rublev (41 to 47) and more unforced errors (67 to 59), his ability to raise his level under pressure proved crucial to his victory.

“I was playing fairly good, I think, for the first two sets,” said Dimitrov in his on-court interview. “But for some reason my body was starting to lose its rhthym a little bit and he was not going to just give up the match. You know how he is. I just had to stay patient and I think today the biggest thing that helped me was my experience and [the crowd].”

Big stage for a big milestone ?@GrigorDimitrov advances to his 8th Grand Slam quarter-final, defeating Rublev in five sets! @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/5Ff55OjsDL

Taylor Fritz gained revenge against Casper Ruud on Sunday at the US Open, where he overcame the Norwegian 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in New York for the second consecutive year.

The American fell to Ruud in the fourth round at Roland Garros earlier this year but ensured history would not repeat itself under the roof on Louis Armstrong Stadium. In a statement display, Fritz fired 56 winners to Ruud’s 32 and used the energy of the home crowd to triumph after two hours and 44 minutes.

"I just had to stay in it because I felt like he outplayed me in the first set. I had some chances, he had some chances and he took them," Fritz said. "He was playing well and I did a really good job to fight at the start of the second to get through some tight service games and apply some scoreboard pressure. I feel his level then maybe dropped a little bit. I was getting more looks on second serves and I could just get through it from there."

TAYLOR MADE ?

American No. 1 @Taylor_Fritz97 punches his ?️ into his FIFTH Grand Slam quarter-final, taking out Ruud in four sets! @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/zF38NyMxJL

With his third Top 10 win at a major, Fritz set a quarter-final meeting with fourth seed Alexander Zverev or countryman Brandon Nakashima. Fritz will be trying to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time when he takes to court on Tuesday, having fallen in the quarter-finals four times.

Carlos Alcaraz and Matteo Berrettini both helped shake off second-round losses at the US Open on Sunday when they attended the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Both stars are fans of Formula 1 and had a nice time watching the race, which Charles Leclerc won in front of his team’s home fans.

The crossover we love to see ? x ?️

Carlitos & Matteo enjoying their time at the Italian Grand Prix! ?

?: @MattBerrettini pic.twitter.com/SakC2VRJem

A Spanish-speaking reporter for DAZN caught up with Alcaraz before the race.

“Very well, very well,” Alcaraz said in Spanish of his love for the sport. “The truth is, we were able to come here to Formula 1. The truth is, for me, it’s a pleasure, and we are going to enjoy it.” 

Andrey Rublev was on the brink of elimination at this year’s US Open in the second round. He came back from two sets down against Arthur Rinderknech for a five-set victory in hot and sticky conditions in New York. Surviving the encounter has now led to a golden opportunity this weekend as we approach the halfway point of the final Grand Slam of the 2024 season.

“It was a turning point because you kind of think you’re out,” explained Fernando Vicente, Rublev’s coach, to ATPTour.com. “Watching the match on court, it was a very hot day, and he was in deep trouble. Andrey was very strong physically and he managed to pull through, and the other matches were a little better.

“In Grand Slam tournaments, there are always days like that, where you have to come back or play long matches. As I say, he did well; his body held up, as did his mind, and he was able to celebrate victory. I think he looks good.”

Having seen off Rinderknech and then beaten Jiri Lehecka in the third round, Rublev will on Sunday face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter-finals. The 26-year-old Rublev holds a slender 4-3 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“He’s looking good coming into the match against Dimitrov. I think against Lehecka he played a very solid match, even though he dropped his serve a couple of times in the third set and things got tough, he coped with it very well,” reflected Vicente, whose charge is the current No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I think he’s physically well, feeling confident.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos overcame Matwe Middelkoop and Alexander Erler 6-3, 7-6(5) Saturday to advance to the third round at the US Open and continue their bid for a maiden Grand Slam title.

The pair has finished runner-up in three previous Grand Slam finals: the US Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023.

Granollers and Zeballos won 39 of 44 first-serve points to defeat their opponents in 1 hour, 42 minutes. The pair, ranked No. 1 in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, are bidding for their third title this season after claiming Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Montreal.

Granollers and Zeballos qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin earlier this week. This is the fifth consecutive year that the pair will compete in the event.

Granollers and Zeballos were knocked out in the third round in Flushing Meadows last year, falling to French team Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in a tight three-set match. Their best run in New York together came in 2019 when they finished runners-up, losing 6-4, 7-5 to Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final.

When Christopher O’Connell walks onto the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Saturday, he will have the biggest opportunity of his career. The Australian will try to reach the fourth round at a major for the first time with the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Jannik Sinner, standing in his way. But do not expect any theatrics from the 30-year-old.

Jordan Thompson, another Aussie still in the draw at Flushing Meadows, was quick to describe his fellow Sydneysider, with whom he has trained, enjoyed meat pies and gone swimming.

“Silent assassin. He’s a quiet achiever,” said Thompson, with whom he shares coach Marinko Matosevic. “Everything about him is quiet, so I think he likes going under the radar, and he's had some great results, and probably doesn't get the credit he deserves… Maybe that's just [the way] he likes it.”

O’Connell has climbed as high as World No. 53, reached two ATP Tour semi-finals and played eight matches against Top 10 opponents. But he does not make a splash with how he behaves on court.

The five-time ATP Challenger Tour titlist is content keeping to himself and not standing under the spotlight. Even so, his story is an incredible one.

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev restored order to the US Open evening session Saturday after the chaotic exits of former champions Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz the previous two nights.

The 28-year-old, who is now the only former champion remaining in the men’s field, denied a feisty challenge from young Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours, 18 minutes to set a fourth-round showdown with Portugal's Nuno Borges.

“I said it before the match that for me the upsets don’t really matter. The only thing [is when] the conditions are a bit tricky the favourites maybe have less margin than the other guys. Just have to be more cautious," said Medvedev, who improved to 38-13 on the season [21-6 on hard courts].

“If I play good tennis I can win the whole thing. If I don’t play good I can lose against anyone.”

The players captivated fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium with a series of spellbinding rallies, with Cobolli frequently forcing Medvedev to defend like an octopus with his gangly arms at full stretch and his trademark defensive skills tested to the limit.

On back-to-back days Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic suffered stunning defeats at the US Open, sending shockwaves through the tennis world.

The players remaining in the draw, headlined by Jannik Sinner, were quick to credit their opponents and point out that losses are part of the sport.

“It shows that this sport is unpredictable. Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, if it's mental, if it's tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result. Both opponents who they lost against, they played some incredible tennis. And it happens,” Sinner said. “So I just watch on my side what I have to do, that I guess I have done also in last period of time, and then we will see what I can do.”

One player who was directly impacted by one of the upsets was 25th seed Jack Draper. The Briton was in the same section of the draw as Alcaraz. But instead, the lefty faced the Spaniard’s conqueror, Botic van de Zandschulp.

“I think both of them, [Carlos and Novak], obviously played the Olympic final. I think that's taken a lot out of them. It's taken a lot out of everyone, but they obviously made the finals, and it was emotional for both of them,” Draper said. “Obviously Novak, that was probably his biggest goal, and to come through that is obviously emotionally challenging to sort of have a rest and then come here.

Alex de Minaur moved back inside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Live Rankings Saturday night after defeating an ailing Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the US Open second week for the fourth time in his career.

The No. 1 Australian also became the first player from his country to reach the fourth round of all majors in the same season since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years ago. He joins countrymen Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, whom he faces next, in the second week.

”I’m super proud of what I’ve been able to achieve this year," De Minaur said. "It’s been tough coming back from injury, but I’m so happy to be back here in New York playing these kind of matches. Let’s keep it going.”

Evans came into the clash with a 3-0 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series over the Australian and appeared to be digging into a dogfight after winning a second-set tie-break to level the match.

But De Minaur's plan to make it a physical match proved telling in the third, when Evans began to suffer from a physical ailment, which required treatment from the physio. In the first round Evans survived a five-hour 35-minute match — the longest match in US Open history — in his epic victory over Karen Khachanov.

On Friday night, Carlos Alcaraz was en route to the John F. Kennedy International Airport to return to Murcia after bowing out in the second round of the US Open to Botic van de Zandschulp, who defeated the Spaniard in three sets in one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Alcaraz, who posted a photo on social media bidding farewell to the fans at the tournament until next year, ended his participation in the 2024 Grand Slams on Thursday with a return that he surely would have taken at the start of the year.

Below, ATPTour.com reflects on the 21-year-old’s season at this year’s majors.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: QUARTER-FINALS
Alcaraz arrived in Melbourne to play his first tournament on the calendar at the season’s first Grand Slam. He beat Richard Gasquet (first round), Lorenzo Sonego (second), Juncheng Shang (third) and Miomir Kecmanovic (last sixteen) before meeting Alexander Zverev in the quarters. In that round, German sent Spaniard packing after four sets, ending his title hopes.

“I honestly don’t know what happened,” Alcaraz said later. “I’d love to say what might have happened, but I wasn’t feeling my game at the start of the match, with a lot of errors that I wasn’t making in previous matches, and my serve was very bad too...” he added.

When Novak Djokovic reached all four Grand Slam finals in 2023, winning three, including a record 24th major, there was nothing to suggest that 2024 would not bring another year of Grand Slam success for the Serbian.

But when he lost in the third round of the US Open on Friday, Djokovic concluded his Grand Slam season without a trophy for the first time since 2017.

Below, ATPTour.com reflects on the 37-year-old’s season at this year’s majors.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: SEMI-FINALS
Playing in his second tournament of the season after the United Cup, Djokovic arrived in Melbourne in the hunt for his 11th title. Slowly building rhythm, he edged out Dino Prizmic, Alexei Popyrin, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first three rounds. He put up a vintage performance against Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round, dropping only three games en route to victory. In the quarter-finals, he was tested by Taylor Fritz before winning in four sets.

But Djokovic, a 10-time champion at Melbourne Park, suffered a surprise defeat to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in four sets in the semi-finals, where his streak of 33 consecutive wins in Melbourne ended.

Most players dream big. They want to win a Grand Slam title, reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and compete against the best players in the world. Flavio Cobolli, who will play 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the third round at Flushing Meadows Saturday evening, has something else in mind.

“I want the people to know about my name when I stop playing,” Cobolli told ATPTour.com. “So I want to be an important player, of course on the court, but also outside. I want to always smile, always try to have fun with this sport. So of course, I want to win a big tournament. And yeah, be a good player with a good ranking. But the first thing is for people to know about me after my career.”

The Italian has no interest in going through his career, retiring and sailing into the sunset as just part of the crowd. The 22-year-old wants to leave his mark on the sport and the world.

“I'm a guy with a big dream. I'm a guy happy to make other people happy,” Cobolli said. “I think I'm a good guy and I want to leave something to the other people, [make them want to] come to play tennis. I want to inspire people, of course.”

Cobolli has the game and the personality to do it. All eyes have been on the rise of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and recent Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti. Cobolli appears on his way to joining his countrymen.

As he almost always does, Casper Ruud has reached the last sixteen of the US Open without making too much of a splash. The Norwegian, who came back from two sets down on Friday to see off Juncheng Shang, will face Taylor Fritz (2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head) on Sunday with a place in the quarters up for grabs.

With two ATP Tour titles to his name so far in 2024 (Barcelona and Geneva), Ruud now has a chance to stay in the fight for the big prizes at Flushing Meadows.

“I think it’s been a very positive year, he’s been very consistent in most tournaments, allowing him to have a stable place among the 10 best players and to keep growing as a player,” Pedro Clar, Ruud’s coach, told ATPTour.com. “The season is very long but we believe he’s in great form in terms of his game, his fitness, and mentally. You always have to take it match by match but you also have to believe you can do something big here at the US Open and in the remainder of the season.”

Ruud, of course, knows what it is to ‘do something big’ in the season’s final Grand Slam. In 2022, the current No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings reached the final, where he bowed out to Carlos Alcaraz in the match where the No. 1 spot was also at stake.

How has Ruud changed on hard court since the final two years ago?

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic each fell in a stunning opening-week loss at the US Open. Jannik Sinner refused to suffer the same fate on Saturday.

The top seed cruised past Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. It is the fourth consecutive year in which he has advanced that far in New York.

"Everything can happen in this sport, so I try to stay on my side of the net and I'm trying to take [the tournament] day by day," Sinner said in his on-court interview. "Each opponent is a very tough challenge and [I am] also enjoying every moment on the court. There have been already a couple of upsets, so let's see what's coming.

"But I'm very happy to still be here and hopefully I can play as many matches as possible. But as I said, we go day by day and then we'll see how it goes."

Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' ?

Rock and roll tennis World No. 1 @janniksin as he seals a fourth round spot in New York. @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/csy8PkCVaO

Jack Draper advanced to the fourth round at the US Open for the second year running with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win Saturday over Botic van de Zandschulp.

The Briton converted five of his eight break points to seal victory over the Dutchman, who defeated Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round. Draper also hit 13 aces en route to defeating the 28-year old in their first matchup, closing out the win in two hours, 14 minutes.

The 22-year-old reached a career high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 22 in August. He won his maiden ATP Tour title at the BOSS OPEN earlier this year, defeating Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final.

Victory over the Dutchman ensures that Draper has equalled his best run at a Grand Slam, which came in 2023 when he also reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. This is his third consecutive main-draw appearance in New York.

Draper will go on to face Tomas Machac in the next round. Machac overcame former Nitto ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour, 34 minutes to advance to the fourth round for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. Machac was clinical as he converted seven break points en route to sweeping past the Belgian.

Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Maria Mateas are playing for more than just a trophy in the US Open mixed doubles draw. The dating partners are competing to stay together longer.

Mateas, who also played in women’s qualifying singles, was scheduled to fly to Europe on Saturday to continue her journey. But the wild cards defeated Fabrice Martin and Alexandra Panova 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 on Friday to remain in the draw and, more importantly, by one another’s side.

“This means we get to spend more days together too, because there are tournaments right around the corner,” said McDonald, who lost to Jannik Sinner in the first round of singles. “Our days being on Tour, both of us, it's a lot. So we cherish every moment we get together.”

The partners of two and a half years simultaneously said “I hope so” when asked if Mateas might have to miss a tournament because of their efforts in New York.

Both players’ smiles lit up the US Open media centre. Their excitement was unmistakable.

Alexei Popyrin’s victory against Novak Djokovic at the US Open may have come as a seismic shock to many, but it did not come as a huge surprise to the man himself.

Popyrin believes that his big-hitting game has always had the potential to trouble the game’s elite. Rather, stringing high-level performances together consistently has been the challenge for the 25-year-old, whose straight-sets victory against Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium came just 18 days after he earned a stunning maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

“For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it's a title, and it's a Masters 1000 title,” reflected Popyrin after his 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win against Djokovic on Friday night. “That felt unbelievable. Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head.

“My two experiences against [Djokovic] earlier this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon kind of gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win, and actually do it and believe it. So when I did it, it kind of felt that proved me right, proved what I was thinking was right. It wasn't something that was unbelievable.”

Having pushed Djokovic to four sets earlier this year at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Popyrin was delighted with the way he improved mentally to get over the line this time around.

Alexander Zverev was given a high-powered test by Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Friday night at the US Open. Despite some early struggles, the fourth seed dialled in to notch his 100th Grand Slam match win.

Zverev prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 on Louis Armstrong Stadium to reach the fourth round for his fifth consecutive appearance in New York (2019-21, 2022-23). The German had trailed by a set and a break at 5-7, 2-4 but from there he broke Etcheverry’s serve seven times to complete a three-hour, 36-minute win.

R4 ? @AlexZverev gets past Etcheverry 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-3.@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/l2TWwddqba

With a 100-34 Grand Slam record, Zverev is the first man born in 1990 or later to hit the 100-win milestone at the majors. The 27-year-old, who has won a Tour-leading 55 matches in 2024, reached one of his two Grand Slam finals in New York in 2020. His other major championship-match appearance came at Roland Garros earlier this year.

Zverev will take on a home favourite next in New York in Brandon Nakashima. The 23-year-old upset 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time. Zverev leads Nakashima 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including a second-round win during his 2020 New York final run.

Francisco Comesana defeated Ugo Humbert, the No. 17 in the PIF ATP Rankings, on Wednesday and then fell on his back in celebration. But he quickly bounced back up, for two good reasons.

"The court was really hot!" he explained with a laugh after his victory on a day that featured temperatures of nearly 40-degrees Celsius. The second reason he returned to his feet was because of his mother, Adela.

Comesana's second-round triumph in his US Open debut was the perfect birthday gift to his mother. He shouted ‘Happy birthday!’ before embracing Humbert at net. Then, Comesana headed to the stands on Court No. 7 and gave Adela a hug.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I beat the World No. 17,” Comesana said in Spanish. “I’m still thinking about my mother’s emotional birthday. It’s really amazing that we can experience this as a family. After suffering so much, we’re all really happy.”

In July, the Argentine reached the third round at Wimbledon, where he opened the tournament by upsetting sixth seed Andrey Rublev. Now he is back in the Round of 32, in only his second major.

The clock read 35 minutes before Carlos Alcaraz hit his first winner of the night. He needed 55 minutes more to get the break that would open his account for the evening. The Spaniard bowed out of the US Open in the second round at the hands of Botic van de Zandschulp after two hours and 19 minutes during Thursday's late session inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Throughout the match, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings frequently pointed to his head, gesturing to his team that this essential part of his game was not running altogether smoothly.

And that was exactly where the Murcia native was pointing minutes after bowing out to the Dutchman. It was honest. It was raw. It was clear and unapologetic.

“Right now, I feel like I’ve taken steps backwards mentally and I don’t understand why,” admitted a serious-looking Alcaraz in Spanish as he sat before the media in the US Open press conference room. “I’ve had a spectacular summer at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. I left those tournaments saying that I’d taken a step forward mentally. I’d realised that to win big things, to win Grand Slam titles, you have to be mentally strong.

“Now I’ve reached this swing and I’ve taken steps backwards, like I’m not doing well mentally, I’m not strong. I don’t know how to control myself when faced with problems and I don’t know how to handle it. I have to see exactly what happened, or what’s going on with me.