New York - 09/07
Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need with your coffee.
Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.
Today is Monday, September 7, in New York it's 02:30 and it's 17 degrees. Ok, let's get going.
Today at breakfast
- 🇧🇾 Sabalenka dispatches Townsend, Noskova awaits in the quarters
- 🇺🇸 Tiafoe beats Medvedev, Michelsen reaches his first Slam quarterfinal
- 🇪🇸 Alcaraz closes out Paul in three sets
- 🇺🇸 Shelton routs Tsitsipas, gets Alcaraz next
- 🇺🇸 Navarro beats Kalinskaya, all-American quarterfinal against Pegula
- 🇮🇹 Darderi faces Zverev overnight between Monday and Tuesday
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
🇧🇾 Sabalenka Dispatches Townsend, Noskova Awaits In The Quarters
Aryna Sabalenka beat Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and fifteen minutes, with seven of the first ten games going against serve. In the quarters she'll face Linda Noskova, who eliminated Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
The start was messier than the scoreline suggests: Townsend broke the Belarusian's serve three times in her first four service games. Down 1-3 in the second set, Sabalenka won the last five games. It's the sixth straight time she's reached the quarters at Flushing Meadows. Noskova arrives as Wimbledon champion, where she beat Kostyuk in the semifinal back in July.
🇺🇸 Tiafoe Beats Medvedev, Michelsen Reaches His First Slam Quarterfinal
Frances Tiafoe beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6(1), 6-4, 7-6(6) in two hours and fifty-seven minutes on Louis Armstrong, where his career record against him stays ten wins from ten. In the quarters he faces Alex Michelsen, twenty-two, who got past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4.
Tiafoe had lost six of his previous seven meetings with Medvedev, and this time he settled it in the two tiebreaks, 7-1 in the first and 8-6 in the third, the fastest way to deny the Russian the long rallies he usually settles into. Michelsen is into his first Slam quarterfinal and hasn't dropped a set yet this tournament. With five Americans in the round of 16 at a Slam for the first time since 1995, their quarterfinal already guarantees a home semifinalist.
🇪🇸 Alcaraz Closes Out Paul In Three Sets
Carlos Alcaraz beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, with thirty-three winners to eighteen and twenty-three points won on the twenty-nine points closed out at net. It's the fourteenth straight set he's won against the American, who hasn't taken one off him since Wimbledon 2024.
Alcaraz arrived in New York as defending champion after being sidelined with a right wrist injury, and this is still the first tournament he's played since April. He lost serve once in fifteen service games and converted four of fourteen break points, numbers from a match he controlled rather than overwhelmed. In the quarters he faces Shelton, and it'll be the first time this week he's up against someone who serves like that.
WHAT HAPPENED OVERNIGHT:
🇺🇸 Shelton Routs Tsitsipas, Gets Alcaraz Next
Ben Shelton beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in the evening session on Arthur Ashe, with twelve aces and 84% of points won on first serve.
It was Tsitsipas's first round of 16 in New York and he never found a way into the match on return. Shelton, who came into the round of 16 carrying more than three hours on his legs from the Shapovalov match, played his shortest match of the week exactly when he needed to. Against Alcaraz the question is holding that serving level past the third set.
🇺🇸 Navarro Beats Kalinskaya, All-American Quarterfinal Against Pegula
Emma Navarro beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-2, closing out the night on Ashe. It's her first win over the Russian after two losses, the last of them this year in Doha. In the quarters she faces Jessica Pegula, who got past Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the afternoon.
Navarro won her first two matches of the tournament in three sets and hasn't dropped one since, putting together her cleanest week at Flushing Meadows. The head-to-head with Pegula reads 4-0, including the 7-5, 6-2 from Cincinnati three weeks ago, the kind of tally that weighs more on the loser than the winner. Either way, one of them is through to the semifinal.
WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:
- Andreeva vs Potapova - Louis Armstrong from 17:00 Italian time. Potapova arrives off eliminating Anisimova, the tenth seed, and Andreeva opens play on the Armstrong as the fifth seed.
- Swiatek vs Zheng - Arthur Ashe from 17:30. Zheng came through qualifying and on Saturday saved a match point against Keys, coming back from 0-5 in the third; the head-to-head with the Pole is 1-7.
- Cerundolo vs Blockx - Ashe, not before 19:00. The Argentine spent three hours and thirty-nine minutes coming back against Fritz, the Belgian closed out his match with Cobolli by winning eleven straight games.
- Osaka vs Rybakina - Armstrong, not before 20:30. The first real heavyweight matchup of this half of the women's draw.
- Khachanov vs Tien - Armstrong, not before 22:00. Tien comes off a five-setter against Mensik.
- Gea vs Van de Zandschulp - Grandstand, from 22:30. The Frenchman came through qualifying and is at his first Slam Round of 16; the Dutchman got here by knocking out de Minaur.
- Gauff vs Jovic - Ashe, evening session from 01:00. All-American matchup: Gauff hasn't dropped a set yet, Jovic went three with Eala.
- Zverev vs Darderi - Ashe, to follow overnight between Monday and Tuesday. The head-to-head is 1-1 and both meetings came in Rome: 7-6 6-2 for the German in 2024, 1-6 7-6 6-0 for Darderi this year.
Further reading
- When Luciano Darderi plays Alexander Zverev in the US Open 2026 round of 16
- US Open 2026: schedule, times and order of play for Monday, September 7
- US Open: Zverev into the round of 16, will face Darderi
- Frances Tiafoe, pumped up, defeats Daniil Medvedev to reach US Open QFs
- Sabalenka passes Townsend test to return to US Open quarters
Enjoy your breakfast and have a good day.
See you tomorrow at 08:30 for TIE-Breakfast
