Tiafoe fights off Popyrin challenge to reach third US Open quarter finals

Frances Tiafoe progressed to the US Open quarter-finals inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 26-year-old American advanced to the last eight at Flushing Meadows for a third consecutive year on Sunday evening when he defeated 28th seed Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 in three hours and two minutes.

“I always dreamt about playing on this court [since I was] a kid. I used to hit against the wall and wanted to compete on this court,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “Seeing the Williams sisters win titles here, seeing Roger win here a million times, I was like ‘I just want to play on this court’. It’s so iconic, obviously named after Arthur Ashe, so I wanted to be a part of that. I think it brings out the best of me.”

The home favourite will play ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight.

The Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov had earlier withstood a stirring comeback from Andrey Rublev to clinch victory in a pulsating fourth-round US Open clash on Sunday afternoon in New York.

The ninth-seeded Dimitrov kept his cool for a 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 triumph after three hours and 39 minutes inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Elsewhere, Taylor Fritz gained revenge against Casper Ruud on Sunday, where he overcame the Norwegian 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in New York for the second consecutive year.

With his third Top 10 win at a major, Fritz set a quarter-final meeting with fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

The 27-year-old German claimed his 450th career win after fighting from a set down to earn a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

With his two-hour, 38 minutes against American Brandon Nakashima, Zverev have now joined Jannik Sinner and qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the seventh time.