The 2022 US Open quarter-finals have been set. Day 8 provided us with more upsets and more matches which went the distance. The 17:00 match was between 9th seed Rublev and 7th seed Norrie. Norrie started off the slower of the 2 and it was Rublev who took the first set. The 2nd set once again was on serve until late on in the set where Rublev broke and once again he served it out to lead 2 sets to love. The whole performance from Norrie was very subdued compared to what everyone expects of him – bouncing around with energy. This meant that Norrie couldn’t find his form and Rublev booked his spot in the quarter-finals once again at the US Open. He would be up against either the 2nd seed, Nadal or the home favourite and 22nd seed, Tiafoe. Tiafoe started the better of the 2 and managed to get the break and held this break all the way to take his first ever set against Nadal. The 2nd set went on serve until 5-4 Nadal leading. Tiafoe for the first time in the match had a wobble on serve and with a double fault let the game and the set slip. We were level again at 1 set all. Most of the crowd and fans watching from home would’ve expected Nadal to come out firing after stealing the 2nd set but it was still Tiafoe who looked the more dominant and once again it was the American who broke first. Nadal broke immediately back but was broken again and this time Tiafoe held it till the end and it was the American who was on the verge of knocking out the great Spaniard. Nadal who just seemed a bit out of sorts on the court, continued to make unforced errors and ultimately couldn’t find his best game. Tiafoe on the other hand played one of the best matches I have ever seen him play and this was great to see. The American becoming the first player to defeat Nadal at a grand slam in 2022. An amazing match and achievement from Tiafoe who will back himself against a shaky Rublev.

8th seeded American Pegula was up against 21st seed Kvitova. Pegula had been playing some great tennis throughout the tournament while Kvitova had had to fight in her previous match against Muguruza. Kvitova couldn’t find her form just like Nadal and Pegula cruised through to the quarter-finals as she dropped just 5 games in her straight sets win. Her opponent was going to be either number 1 in the world Swiatek or unseeded German Niemeier. Niemeier bullied Swiatek in the first set to the surprise of many and took the opening set 6-2. Swiatek had to regain control and quickly if she wanted to stay in the US Open. Swiatek was the first to break in the 2nd set but was broken straight back. Niemeier was playing some great tennis but unfortunately for her she couldn’t take the second set and this allowed Swiatek to relax as they headed into a 3rd. Swiatek went on to not drop a game in the decider and book her quarter-final spot.

22nd seed Pliskova was up against 26th seed Azarenka in the 4th round. Pliskova was out of the blocks quickly as she lead 3-0 in no time. Azarenka though played herself in and flipped the set as she then led 5-4 and was serving for the set. This time though it was Pliskova’s turn to flip the script as she won 3 consecutive games to claim the opening set and lead 1 set to love. Azarenka was the first to break in the 2nd set and led 3-1 before Pliskova once again worked her way back into the set to level the match at 4-4. Four quick holds of serve later and the 2nd set was heading into a tiebreak. Azarenka who needed the set got off to the better start and led 4-0 in the breaker. She kept that lead until 6-2 where it started to unravel for the 26th seed. Pliskova made it 6-5 before Azarenka managed to hit a forehand winner to send the match into a deciding set. Pliskova played the better tennis in the 3rd set and broke first. She used this lead to her advantage and ended up taking the decider 6-2 to book her spot in the quarter-finals. She would be up against either 19th seed American Collins or 6th seed Sabalenka. Collins took the first set which meant that Sabalenka would have come back from a set down just as she in the 3rd round. And thats exactly what she did do as she took the next 2 sets 6-3; 6-2 to book a quarter-final match against 22nd seed, Pliskova.

11th seed, Sinner was up against a dangerous opponent in Ivashka who was playing some good tennis. Sinner dominated the first set as he dropped just 1 game. Ivashka though hit back and took the second set to make it a level game at 1 set all. The 3rd set went a similar way to the first set and Sinner was once again in the lead at 2 sets to 1. Ivashka though wasn’t done yet and once again hit back and we were going the distance in this 4th round match. Sinner had to play some exceptional tennis on his way to eventually beating the unseeded Ivashka. The last match of the day was between former US Open champion, Cilic and 3rd seed Alcaraz. Alcaraz took the first set and Cilic took the 2nd to level the match. Just like the Sinner game it was Alcaraz who led 2 sets to 1 before Cilic made it 2 sets all and another decider was going to be played. Alcaraz took the first break of the deciding set and managed to hold serve which made it 4-1. Cilic held serve easily but couldn’t conjure up another break point which meant the it was Alcaraz who took the late night thriller and Alcaraz kept his chances of becoming world number 1 after the US Open very much alive.

The picks lost on day 8 were: Nadal (29 picks), Cilic (4 picks), Norrie (13 picks), Kvitova (3 picks), Collins (3 picks), Niemeier (1 pick).

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and ‘Drop Shots’ narrowly keep the lead over ‘Simply Smashing’. The gap has been reduced to just 1 point. ‘Eish’ moves back into 3rd and is just 6 points behind the leader. ‘Give Me a Break’ sits in 4th while ‘My Dream Team’ and ‘Bateleur’ sit in a joint 5th place. Just 4 points separate ‘Love All’ and ‘Magic Team’ in their fight for the wooden spoon.

Match Results from Day 8

• Rublev(9) beat Norrie(7) – 6-4; 6-4; 6-4
• Tiafoe(22) beat Nadal(2) – 6-4; 4-6; 6-4; 6-3
• Sinner(11) beat Ivashka – 6-1; 5-7; 6-2; 4-6; 6-3
• Alcaraz(3) beat Cilic(15) – 6-4; 3-6; 6-4; 4-6; 6-3
• Pegula(8) beat Kvitova(21) – 6-3; 6-2
• Swiatek(1) beat Niemeier – 2-6; 6-4; 6-0
• Pliskova(22) beat Azarenka(26) – 7-5: 6-7(5); 6-2
• Sabalenka(6) beat Collins(19) – 3-6; 6-3; 6-2

Matches to Watch on Day 9 (Quarter-finals)

• Berrettini(13) vs Ruud(5) (18:00)
• Jabeur(5) vs Tomljanovic (20:00)
• Gauff(12) vs Garcia(17) (01:00)
• Kyrgios(23) vs Khachanov(27) (02:15)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.