Follow live coverage of day seven at the 2024 US Open
Day seven of the U.S. Open kicks off the fourth round, with just 16 players left in the men’s and women’s singles draws.
Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro face off in a rematch of their brilliant encounter at Wimbledon, while Frances Tiafoe has his sights on the quarterfinals, too.
Here’s what to watch.
Arthur Ashe
Start time: Noon ET, 9 a.m. PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Andrey Rublev (6) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (9)
There are 16 players left in the men’s field. Just two have won a Grand Slam title. They are both on the same side of the draw, and will meet in the quarterfinals, if they get there.
For the other 14, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev are in rarefied air, but only one of them will have the chance to breathe it come 2 p.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium next Sunday. Andrey Rublev, who has endured the last few months with racket scars on his knees and upper legs, has never been further than a quarterfinal; Grigor Dimitrov, renascent in the same timeframe, has three semifinals to his name.
As the U.S. Open becomes one big window of opportunity, both men will be ready to stake a claim.
Emma Navarro (13) vs. Coco Gauff (3)
Wind back a week shy of two months. It’s dark in south-west London, and Coco Gauff is shouting into the floodlights at Wimbledon. “Tell me something,” she said to Brad Gilbert, her coach. On the other side of the net is Emma Navarro, on the way to a straight-sets win.
These two knew each other in juniors, before Cori Gauff was “Coco” and a world-famous athlete, and before Navarro was on a seemingly irrepressible rise into the top 10. Gauff will know what’s coming — off-speed balls into her forehand, and surprise changes of pace. Now she has to handle it.
Emma Navarro’s performance against Coco Gauff at Wimbledon was one of the best of her career. (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
Frances Tiafoe (20) vs. Alexei Popyrin (28)
The heroes of Friday on Arthur Ashe meet. Tiafoe, who took back what Ben Shelton stole from him 12 months ago, in five sets. Popyrin, who faced down Novak Djokovic at a Grand Slam for the third time this year, and got a first win against him. Tiafoe will have the sound and fury on his side; Popyrin the cachet of beating a defending champion. Shelton said Tiafoe returned his serve better than anyone had all year after his loss; Tiafoe will need to do the same again to the Australian.
Zheng Qinwen (7) vs. Donna Vekic (24)
A repeat of the gold medal match at the Olympics last month, in which Zheng, one of the smartest tacticians on the WTA Tour, used high, heavy spin — and the odd bona fide moonball — to neutralise Vekic. That’s not so easy on a quicker court than the Paris clay, and the Croatian should have more opportunities to thunder her inside-out forehand into the corners.
Louis Armstrong
Start time: 11 a.m. ET, 8 a.m. PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Paula Badosa (26) vs. Wang Yafan
Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas are going through a period of contrasts as a couple. The Greek’s career is, no other way to slice it, on the way down. Badosa’s is coming back up, as she returns from an injury that she thought might end it altogether. Tsitsipas loves New York, but it isn’t on the same wavelength. Badosa isn’t really a fan, and she’s into the last 16. Wang Yafan is her first Grand Slam fourth-round opponent, having beaten former finalist Victoria Azarenka in the previous round.
Casper Ruud (8) vs. Taylor Fritz (12)
Is there a three-time Grand Slam finalist more low-key than Casper Ruud? Two sets down against Shang Juncheng Friday, it looked as if he was going to flame out of a promising position, which has happened a few times lately. Instead, he won 18 games to four in the next three sets. Taylor Fritz meanwhile has quietly moved through the draw, just as he did at Wimbledon. Expect some tiebreaks.
Brandon Nakashima vs. Alexander Zverev (4)
Of all the players left in the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev will be looking at this U.S. Open as an opportunity. That might not be a good thing. Zverev, who was two sets up on Dominic Thiem in the 2020 final here before losing two to merit, and one to paralyzing nerves, lost the French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz earlier this year. At that tournament, he said he felt like he had a chance to win it; he said the same at Wimbledon, where a knee injury hobbled him in defeat to Fritz. Nakashima, whose serve is one of the best on the ATP Tour right now, took out one of its best returners, Lorenzo Musetti, in the previous round. Expect more tiebreaks in this one.
Brandon Nakashima will be a serious danger to Alexander Zverev’s hopes for a first Grand Slam title. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
Elise Mertens (33) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)
Aryna Sabalenka last lost to Elise Mertens in 2018, and in their last New York meeting, the Belgian won just five games. The complicating factor here? Recovery. Sabalenka didn’t get on court until the earliest early hours Friday morning, before being taken to three sets by Ekaterina Alexandrova. She said she got home at 3 a.m., then slept until 12 p.m. Mertens was done with Madison Keys a couple of hours before the Belarusian even started.
Required reading
(Top photos of Frances Tiafoe and Coco Gauff: Getty Images)
