Rublev and Dimitrov will battle for a place in the quarterfinals in New York | ATP Tour

US Open

Rublev and Dimitrov will compete for a place in the quarterfinals in New York

Both players advanced on Friday, as did Alexander Zverev

August 30, 2024

We can start preparing for a great match: the first match between two Top 10 players at the 2024 US Open has already been decided.

Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov wasted no time in securing third-round victories on Friday afternoon at Flushing Meadows, as sixth seed Rublev outlasted Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, while No. 9 seed Dimitrov defeated Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, almost simultaneously. The two will now meet in the fourth round in New York, their first meeting at a Grand Slam since the 2018 Australian Open.

After coming back from two sets down in his second-round match against Arthur Rinderknech, Rublev again made things easy to seal his fourth-round berth. The No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings won 89% (48/54) of his first-serve points to take a 3-2 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Lehecka.

Rublev is a four-time US Open quarter-finalist. A win in Sunday’s fourth-round match would cement his sixth place in the IF ATP Live Race To Turin, but Dimitrov will also be looking to take a step forward in the fight to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. The Bulgarian is currently 11th in the Live Race but could rise as high as ninth if he reaches the quarter-finals.

For his part, Dimitrov did not face a break point in his 99-minute win against Griekspoor. The 33-year-old, a US Open semi-finalist in 2019, has not dropped a set in his three matches so far at Flushing Meadows and has been displaying some top-flight tennis. Now, he will hope to replicate his fine form to avenge his straight-sets defeat in his only previous meeting in New York with Rublev in 2017.

Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe took revenge for the last US Open on Friday afternoon in New York and beat his compatriot Ben Shelton in the third round by a marathon 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 and 6-3 after four hours and three minutes on the Arthur Ashe stadium.

The match, played in front of a New York crowd enraged by the brilliant shooting of their compatriots, ended with Tiafoe pointing to the court after shaking hands with Shelton and exclaiming: “This is my house.”

The thrilling match delayed the start of the evening session at Ashe, in which defending champion Novak Djokovic will face recent Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin. Tiafoe will play the winner of that encounter.

Zverev: 100 victories and one Grand Slam
Another favourite to advance on Friday was Alexander Zverev, who beat Argentine Tomas Etcheverry by scores of 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3. The German was down a set and a break, but was able to recover to leave the Lexus ATP HeadToHead between the two at 2-0.

This result also means his 100th Grand Slam victory, and his 25th at the US Open. He has only had more wins at one major, Roland Garros (34). Now he will look for one more when he faces local Brandon Nakashima, who is coming off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

With this ranking, combined with several recent results, Zverev has consolidated his position in the Top 2 of the live rankings, and is guaranteed to appear after the tournament above Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.