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New York - 09/06

Tie-BreakfastSep 6Sep 6, 20266 min

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Today is Sunday, September 6, in New York it's 2:30am and it's 19 degrees. Okay, let's get started.

On the menu today

🇮🇹 Darderi reaches his first Round of 16 in New York, Cobolli routed by Blockx
🇦🇷 Cerundolo comes back from two sets down against Fritz on the Ashe
🇨🇳 Zheng saves a match point against Keys, Potapova knocks out Anisimova
🇵🇱 Swiatek and Gauff into the Round of 16 without dropping a set
🇺🇸 Jovic beats Eala, sets up American derby with Gauff
🇯🇵 Osaka gets past Mertens, Rybakina awaits in the Round of 16
🇩🇪 Zverev gets past Tabilo in three sets, Darderi awaits in the Round of 16
🇺🇸 Tien knocks out Mensik in five after three and a half hours

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Darderi Into First Round Of 16, Cobolli Routed By Blockx

Luciano Darderi beat Dane Sweeny 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and twelve minutes for the first Round of 16 of his career in New York. Flavio Cobolli won the first set 7-6(4) against Alexander Blockx, then lost 11 games in a row, going out 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in two hours and forty-five.

Sweeny came into the match off a win over Musetti, and Darderi never let him settle into the kind of long rallies the Australian favors. From 3-3 in the second set onward, Cobolli won 6 points to Blockx's 33, with the third set closing out 24-4 on points, and a drop-off that size usually says more about legs than about the head. In the Round of 16, Darderi faces Zverev, and Blockx gets Cerundolo.

🇦🇷 Cerundolo Comes Back From Two Sets Down Against Fritz

Francisco Cerundolo beat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and thirty-nine minutes, in his first career match on the Arthur Ashe. It's the second time the Argentine has come back from two sets down, and the first time he's reached the second week at Flushing Meadows.

Fritz won the first two sets without having to invent anything, and from the third onward he stopped finding the court, in a way he never fixed. Cerundolo did the simple, exhausting thing, continuing to push his forehand even with the Ashe crowd fully behind the other guy. Winning like that, on his debut on the tournament's biggest court, usually leaves more confidence than the fatigue takes away.

🇨🇳 Zheng Saves A Match Point Against Keys, Potapova Eliminates Anisimova

Zheng Qinwen beat Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 after falling behind 0-5 in the third set, with Keys serving twice for the match and holding a match point. From there the Chinese player won the last 7 games. In the same afternoon session, Anastasia Potapova eliminated Amanda Anisimova, the 10th seed, 6-2, 7-5.

The first set had ended 6-1 and seemed to have already said everything. What happened next has more to do with how slowly a lead gets eaten away when the opponent keeps putting the ball back in play and the crowd starts to notice. Anisimova, for her part, had 16 break points and converted three of them, which remains the longest way to lose a match in two sets. Zheng meets Swiatek in the Round of 16, against whom she's won once in eight meetings.

🇵🇱 Swiatek And Gauff Into The Round Of 16 Without Dropping A Set

Iga Swiatek got past Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3), 7-6(3), two tiebreaks in two sets. Coco Gauff beat Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-4.

Swiatek's scoreline tells the story of two sets in which she was never seriously behind and never comfortable either. Bouzkova took the rhythm away from her for the whole match, and the Pole settled it inside the tiebreaks, which is usually where matches like this get decided. Gauff, for her part, hasn't been taken to a third set yet, and the derby with Jovic will reveal a bit more precisely because no one has asked anything of her so far.

WHAT HAPPENED OVERNIGHT:

🇺🇸 Jovic Beats Eala, Sets Up Clash With Gauff

Iva Jovic beat Alexandra Eala 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in the match that opened the night session on the Arthur Ashe. In the Round of 16 she'll face Coco Gauff.

The first and third sets ended with the same score, and in between Eala had leveled the match back out. Neither player ever had a comfortable margin, and the night was decided in the closing games of the third set. For Jovic, the step up to face Gauff on the Ashe is the first real change of scale in this tournament, more because of the setting than the opponent.

🇯🇵 Osaka Gets Past Mertens, Rybakina Awaits In The Round Of 16

Naomi Osaka beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 on the Louis Armstrong. In the Round of 16 she'll face Elena Rybakina, who got past Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-6(6), 6-3 on the Grandstand in the evening.

In the third set Osaka fell behind a break and pulled level at 4-4, which is the moment the match stopped belonging to Mertens. Rybakina, on the other hand, was only in danger in the first set, taken all the way to 8-6 in the tiebreak, and gave up nothing from there. The one between the Japanese and the Kazakh is the heaviest Round of 16 clash in this half of the draw, and it will be played tomorrow.

🇩🇪 Zverev Gets Past Tabilo, Darderi Awaits In The Round Of 16

Alexander Zverev beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-2 in two hours and twenty-seven minutes. It's the first match of his tournament that doesn't go to a fifth set: against Sonego and against Halys it took almost five hours and more than four and a half.

The only stretch where Tabilo stayed in the match was the second-set tiebreak, which the German closed out 7-2. After the two marathons of the first two rounds, Zverev reaches the Round of 16 with the shortest match of his week behind him, and against Darderi those saved hours count as much as the scoreline.

🇺🇸 Tien Knocks Out Mensik In Five

Learner Tien beat Jakub Mensik 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and twenty-eight minutes. Down two sets to one, the American won the last two.

Mensik had moved back in front with the 6-1 second set and the third-set tiebreak, then the match swung the other way and never swung back. For Tien, 20 years old, it's three and a half hours in his legs on the eve of the second week.

WHAT'S ON TODAY:

Sabalenka vs Townsend - Arthur Ashe from 5:30pm CET. The top seed hasn't dropped a set yet, Townsend comes off the first third set she's conceded in this tournament, against Shnaider.
Alcaraz vs Paul - Ashe, not before 8:00pm. Alcaraz leads 6-2 in their head-to-head, but Paul is playing at home and comes off five sets against Bublik.
Medvedev vs Tiafoe - Louis Armstrong, not before 9:00pm. Medvedev reached the Round of 16 without dropping a set, Tiafoe with a serve that's worked for him all week.
Pegula vs Cirstea - Armstrong, to follow. Cirstea eliminated Paolini on Friday, Pegula had to drop a set 1-6 before finding her game against Fernandez.
Shelton vs Tsitsipas - Ashe, night session from 1:00am CET. Shelton arrives with three hours and twenty-two minutes in his legs from the match against Shapovalov.
Kalinskaya vs Navarro - Ashe, to follow. Two players who knocked out Svitolina and Muchova in the same afternoon in the third round.
Doubles, Italians in action - Arnaldi/Struff open on the Armstrong at 5:00pm against top seeds Heliovaara/Patten, Bolelli/Vavassori play on the Grandstand after 8:30pm against Gille/Verbeek.

Enjoy your breakfast, have a good day.

See you tomorrow at 8:30am with TIE-Breakfast