As the second week of the fortnight commences, this tournament has a renewed air of unpredictability. With Novak’s hasty exit, we are guaranteed to have a new men’s Major winner for the first time since 2014. And with two multi-Slam winners upset by Americans yesterday, the women’s draw feels as volatile as ever.
Serena Williams (3) vs. Maria Sakkari (15)
This will start the day’s order of play on Arthur Ashe Stadium at noon local time. It is a rematch from 13 days ago on these same grounds, which was a bizarre affair. Serena served for the match in the second set, but failed to close it out. After Sakkari grabbed the set in a tiebreak, an exhausted Serena half-tanked the third set, losing it 6-1. Serena will surely be eager to avenge that defeat. The six-time US Open champion has looked better with each passing round, especially in the second two sets of a comeback win over former champion Sloane Stephens. Sakkari is into her second consecutive round of 16 at a Major, but is yet to advance farther. Her movement and defense frustrated Serena two weeks ago, but it’s hard to imagine a repeat of that feat. Just four match wins from her 24th Major, Serena will be much more motivated to fight for the victory today.
Dominic Thiem (2) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (15)
In the next match on Ashe, is Felix ready for his breakout moment at a Major? If his form through three rounds is any indication, the answer may be yes. After overcoming a stern test from Thiago Monteiro in the first round, he dominated a depleted Andy Murray. But his most impressive performance came on Saturday, as he dismantled Corentin Moutet with the loss of just five games. Auger-Aliassime has been serving expertly, is a great mover, and can thump his groundstrokes. But the second seed is a big step up in competition. Despite a bad showing two weeks ago at the Western & Southern Open, Thiem looked strong in week one. This will be their first career meeting, and Auger-Aliassime’s first appearance in the fourth round of a Slam. I’m curious to see Thiem’s return position against the Canadian’s first and second serve, and if he adjusts for each. Dominic usually stands close to the lines judges behind the court while returning. Felix has one of the best first serves on tour, yet his second serve can be suspect. Thiem is the favorite, though Auger-Aliassime may be motivated to join his close friend Denis Shapovalov as the first Canadians in the US Open quarterfinals. And with Djokovic gone, Thiem will know what an opportunity this is to secure his first Major.
Matteo Berrettini (5) vs. Andrey Rublev (10)
This will be the third match of the day over on Louis Armstrong Stadium. And it’s a rematch from this same round a year ago, when the Italian pulled off what was considered an upset over the 2017 quarterfinalist. Berrettini went all the way to the semis last year, and is playing well again in New York this year. He’s the only player left in either singles draw who is yet to be broken. But Rublev has been one of 2020’s strongest performers. He started the year on an 11-match win streak, earning him back-to-back hard court titles in Doha and Adelaide. Berrettini leads their head-to-head 3-1, and 2-1 on hard courts. This seems to be a matchup that favors Matteo, who is not bothered by the strong ball coming off Rublev’s racquet. However, Rublev is an improved player from a year ago, and fully capable of the win, especially if Berrettini’s serving quality dips. This should be a good one.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Frances Tiafoe
This will start the night session on Ashe. Last year’s runner-up is 2-0 against the 22-year-old American, which includes a four-set win earlier this year in Melbourne. Tiafoe has been impressive during this fortnight, especially in coming back from two-sets-to-one down against the ultra-fit John Millman. An Australian Open quarterfinalist in 2019, Frances struggled mightily following that career highlight. However, he’s recaptured his mojo with the help of new coach Wayne Ferreira, a two-time Australian Open semifinalist. But Medvedev has looked stellar here thus far, comfortably claiming all nine sets played and averaging less than two hours on court per match. As we saw here a year ago, the Russian is hard to beat when he builds momentum.
Sofia Kenin (2) vs. Elise Mertens (16)
In the last match of the evening, it’s the American No.1 and Australian Open champion. Is it possible for the second seed and most recent Major champion to be advancing quietly? That seems to be the case with Kenin, who keeps proving doubters such as myself wrong. She did not drop a set in the first week, which included a tricky match against One Jabeur two days ago. But she faces another tough opponent today in Mertens, who already has 11 match wins since the tour restart. They’ve played twice before, both times in 2019. While both were tight three-setters, Kenin came out on top both times. With her game clicking, Kenin should be favored to make it 3-0 despite the consistency of the Belgian.
Other Notable Matches on Day 8:
Karolina Muchova (20) vs. Victoria Azarenka. Muchova narrowly escaped defeat on Saturday, prevailing 9-7 in a third set tiebreak against Sorana Cirstea. Azarenka is 8-0 in the last two weeks, dropping only one of seventeen sets played.
Alex De Minaur (21) vs. Vasek Pospisil. The Australian is 2-0 against the Canadian, with both matches decided on hard courts. De Minaur is vying for his first Major quarterfinal, while Pospisil was a quarterfinalist five years ago at Wimbledon.
In a match between two good friends, Alize Cornet vs. Tsvetana Pironkova. Cornet is 0-4 in her career at this stage of a Major. Pironkova has been the story of the tournament, defeating two top 20 seeds in her first event since Wimbledon 2017.
