Australian Nick Kyrgios of Russia, world number one, Daniil Medvedev, was stripped of the US Open tennis title, the last of the four Grand Slams, when he beat him 7-6 (13-11), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday in the fourth round, while Tunisian Anas Jaber reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
It is the first time that the Australian, ranked 25th in the world and 23rd in the tournament, has reached the quarter-finals in Flushing Meadows, and Jaber followed suit, the fifth in the world, by defeating Russian Veronika Kudermitova 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.
Kyrgios, who lost the third Grand Slam final to Novak Djokovic to Serbia, will meet Karen Khachanov, the 31st in the world and 27th in the tournament, who beat Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 12th 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6 3 in three hours and 21 minutes.
It was the third time that Kyrgios met with Medvedev this year, as the Russian won the first confrontation in the second round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam in January, and the Australian responded in the same round of the Montreal Masters 1000 points last August .
“I’m glad I was finally able to show in New York how well I can play,” said Kyrgios, 27. “I work every day, really hard.”
“It was a great match, obviously Daniel played under a lot of pressure because he was defending the title, but I’ve played amazing in the last two months.”
With his loss today, Medvedev will lose the first place in the world rankings to Spain’s Rafael Nadal, third, or his compatriot Carlos Alcaras, fourth, or Norway’s Rod Casper, fifth, who are still in the competition.
Medvedev praised his Australian opponent, stressing that he raised his level of play to the same level as Nadal and Djokovic.
“Nick today played somewhat at the level of Novak and Rafa,” the Russian said. “If he plays like this until the end of the tournament, he has every chance to win it.”
Italian Matteo Berrettini booked his ticket to the quarter-finals by defeating Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a marathon match 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
In the next round, Berrettini will meet seventh-seeded Casper Ruud, who has become the first Norwegian in history to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, following defeating French Corentin Mute 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.
The 26-year-old Italian, ranked 14th in the world, continued his distinguished series of results in the tournament, following he eliminated Britain’s Andy Murray in the previous round.
Despite missing Roland Garros (French Open) and Wimbledon this year due to injury and illness, the Italian performed well in the four Grand Slams that preceded them.
He reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, and the quarter-finals of Flushing Meadows last year.
Berrettini was Wimbledon runner-up in 2021, which came shortly following reaching the quarter-finals at the French Open.
For his part, Rudd reached this role in Flushing Meadows for the first time, and the third in the Grand Slam in 2022.
Woroud, who is an expert on clay, had reached the Roland Garros final this year and lost to Nadal.
Among the women, Jaber continued her march towards the quarter-finals, when she defeated 18th-year-old Russian Veronika Kudretova 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.
It is the first time that Jaber, the runner-up for Wimbledon, the third grand slam, has reached the quarter-finals of the American Championships and set up a date with Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who had knocked out American Serena Williams from the third round on Friday and beat Russian Lyudmila Samsonova for the 35th Sunday 7-6 (10-8). ) and 6-1.
Jaber sent a message to the American fans in order to support them in the next match, saying, “I will face Ayla, who beat Serena…”.
Jaber has never skipped the third round in Flushing Meadows previously.
The 17th French Caroline Garcia reached the same round for the first time in Flushing Meadows, by defeating American Alison Risk-Amritraj 6-4, 6-1.
Garcia has already reached this role in a major tournament once, which was at Roland Garros 2017.
The 28-year-old has been making outstanding levels recently and reached New York following winning the Cincinnati 1,000th title and unbeaten in her last 12 matches.
The French have previously lost all three of their matches once morest the American.
“Alison is a very strong player, she is a fighter and she moves well but I was ready for that,” she said following the win.
Garcia will meet in the next round with the other American Coco Gauff, the 12th, who defeated China’s Zhang Shuai 7-5, 7-5.