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Alexander Zverev has his eyes on a maiden grand slam title after making it through to the US Open quarter-finals.
The fourth seed, who lost in the final at Flushing Meadows in 2020 and Roland Garros earlier this year, breezed through to the last eight with a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 win over Brandon Nakashima.
And with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic already out and questions remaining over Jannik Sinner’s state of mind following his anti-doping scandal, Zverev might just think this is his time to finally land a major title.
“I’m happy to be back in the quarter-final,” the German said.
“I just need to win one more set than the last two times in the final. I am doing everything I can.
“Everything else is out of my power, I am trying my best and hopefully it is going to be enough at some point in my career.”
Next up, though, is Taylor Fritz, who beat Zverev at Wimbledon and has similar thoughts given the openness of the draw.
Fritz beat Casper Ruud in four sets to make it to a second successive home quarter-final and seems the best chance of becoming the first American winner of the tournament since 2002.
“I went into the US Open 2022 saying I think that I’m a contender and I can win it, and I lost first round,” he said.
“But obviously the draw, it’s impossible to not know that there’s more of an opportunity with how the draw has opened up. It’s still the same as it’s been for me.
“Take it one match at a time. Worry about the person that’s in front of me, and we’ll go from there.
“The success in slams has been nice, but I am a little bit sick of just making it to the quarterfinals, and I definitely want to go further.”
Grigor Dimitrov rolled back the years after making his first US Open quarter-final since 2019.
At 33, the Bulgarian is the oldest player in the draw but showed his experience to come through a tough five-set battle with sixth seed Andrey Rublev.
“There’s no secret,” he said. “There’s no shortcuts either, let me tell you that much, even if I’ve tried.
“The one thing is that I never quit, I never stopped working, I never stopped believing.
“Of course, I had my doubtful moments on so many levels, but once you win those little battles with yourself, it kind of propels you to do something better to be aware of the opportunities that come around.
“Then I never looked at age in any way. I just keep on playing. I’m here, and the body is holding up, and the game I think is improving.
“I still feel like that. There’s quite a bit more to squeeze out of myself in order to maybe not only play better but win bigger events and keep the dream alive.”
Frances Tiafoe is another American dreaming of winning his home slam after he beat Alex Popyrin in four sets to light up Arthur Ashe.
Popyrin was perhaps on a come-down from the highs of beating Novak Djokovic in the third round and Tiafoe deserved his 6-4 7-6 (3) 2-6 6-3 win, which sets up a meeting with Dimitrov.
Tiafoe, who booked a third successive US Open quarter-final, said: “I always dreamt about playing on this court.
“I used to hit against a wall and want to be on this court. Seeing the Williams sisters and Roger win a million times, I wanted to be a part of that.”
“It brings out the best in me.”
