Eight men and eight women are just three matches away from Grand Slam glory.
On the men’s side, all remaining players are age 27 or less, meaning the champion will become the youngest active male to win a Major. This will mark the first Grand Slam event in four years with someone not named Roger, Rafa, or Novak lifting the winner’s trophy. The women’s side includes three mothers for the first time in the Open Era. One had not won a match in a year until two weeks ago, another hadn’t played a tournament in over three years, and the other is the best female player of all-time. In a fortnight full of inspiring stories, what will unfold during the next six days?
Yulia Putintseva (23) vs. Jennifer Brady (28)
Jennifer Brady is playing some great ball. The 25-year-old was the champion in Lexington a few weeks ago, and is into her first Major quarterfinal without dropping a set. With a versatile serve, penetrating groundstrokes, and improved movement, Brady’s opponents have failed to find a weakness to manipulate. But she’s 0-2 against Putintseva, who twice before has reached this stage of a Major (both times at Roland Garros). Also 25-years-of-age, Yulia survived a dramatic and controversial battle against Petra Martic on Sunday, which saw both players take medical timeouts at inconvenient times for their opponent. Putintseva brings the drama wherever she goes, and is a feisty competitor who is not opposed to talking some trash. But despite her strong ground game, Yulia does not possess the weapons or speed of the American. Brady is a considerable favorite to reach the semifinals of her home Slam.
Sascha Zverev (5) vs. Borna Coric (27)
This is a rematch from the second round of the 2017 US Open, a match in which Zverev was goaded into many 30-40 ball rallies instead of harnessing his power game. Coric would grind his way to a four-set win on that day. Three years on, Zverev is a much-improved player. Despite his second serve yips resurfacing last week, they’ve been less of an issue through four rounds, with 71 aces to 29 double faults. By contrast, Coric has struggled of late, but his grit was on full display in his epic comeback two rounds ago over Stefanos Tsitsipas, where he saved six match points. That was Borna’s second consecutive five-setter, which ended past 1:00am local time. However, he bounced back impressively two days later, ousting Jordan Thompson in straight sets to reach his first Major quarterfinal. Overall, Coric leads their head-to-head 3-1, with Zverev’s only win coming in Miami two years ago. But if Sascha serves well and plays aggressively, he should be able to reach his second consecutive Slam semifinal. Coric will not defeat himself and is a great counterpuncher, yet Zverev can better dictate play.
Naomi Osaka (4) vs. Shelby Rogers
Could we have an all-American semifinal? Perhaps, though Rogers faces a much taller task then her friend Jen Brady. Osaka was the champion here two years ago, and is the only woman to win back-to-back Majors since Serena Williams did so in 2015. While Naomi withdrew from the Western & Southern Open final 10 days ago due to a hamstring injury, and still has it wrapped, it does not appear to be effecting her play. She served exceptionally well two days ago against Anett Kontaveit, winning 84% on her first serve and 82% on her second. Rogers fought hard and deserves full credit for reaching for first Major quarterfinal, despite Petra Kvitova double faulting on match point in the final set tiebreak. Rogers has talked of focusing on her fitness during the pandemic shutdown, and the results have followed. Just a few weeks ago in Lexington, she came back from a set down to upset Serena Williams. Rogers does have three match wins against Osaka, though two were those were at lower level events, and the other was three years ago on clay. Even without a partisan crowd filling Arthur Ashe Stadium, the American will surely be nervous in the biggest match of her career, having never advanced beyond the third round of a Major previously. And with Osaka hitting the ball as soundly as she is, Naomi is a strong favorite to reach her third Slam semifinal.
Denis Shapovalov (12) vs. Pablo Carreno Busta (20)
Like today’s other men’s quarterfinal, this is also a rematch from the 2017 US Open. In the fourth round three years ago, Carreno Busta prevailed after three tiebreak sets against an 18-year-old Canadian making his debut in the second week of a Major. The Spaniard has also claimed their other two hard court meetings, with Shapovalov’s only victory coming on clay. But Denis has shown this fortnight that he’s now a more complete player. He escaped near-defeat against Taylor Fritz to win in five, then followed it up with a strong effort to take out David Goffin in four. Carreno Busta advanced after Novak Djokovic was infamously defaulted on Sunday. However, it’s worth noting Pablo is a former semifinalist here, and it was his defiant play which brought that frustration out of Novak. But with Denis’ superior offensive skills, I like Shapovalov to extend his best-yet run at a Major.
