Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe among eight American players who will play in 2nd week of US Open 2023
Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe are among eight American singles players who will feature in the second week of US Open 2023.
The fourth round of the New York Major is underway and eight of the 32 singles competitors are from the United States.
Coco Gauff is among the pre-tournament favorites at the US Open and has done well so far. The 19-year-old did not have the easiest of starts as she came back from a set down to beat Laura Siegemund in the first round. She then beat Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-2 before registering another three-set win over 32nd Elise Mertens (3-6, 6-3, 6-0) in the third round.
Coco Gauff will next take on Caroline Wozniacki for a place in the quarterfinals of the US Open. If she comes out on top, she will face either top seed Iga Swiatek or Jelena Ostapenko.
Jessica Pegula is the highest-ranked singles player from the United States and started the US Open with a straight-sets wins over Camila Giorgi and Patricia Maria Tig. She then faced 26th seed Elina Svitolina in the third round and won a tightly-contested encounter 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Here, the 29-year-old will take on compatriot Madison Keys, who ousted 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round. Whoever out of Pegula or Keys wins, will face either ninth seed Marketa Vondrousova or Peyton Stearns.
Former NCAA champion Stearns has been among the stories of this year's US Open. The 21-year-old is yet to drop a set at the tournament and reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the very first time in her career with wins over Viktoriya Tomova, Clara Tauson and Katie Boulter.
Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz are in the second week of US Open 2023
Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are the only American players in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings, and both reached the fourth round of the US Open.
Tiafoe started the New York Major with a straight-sets win over Learner Tien (6-2, 7-5, 6-1) and followed it up by beating Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. He then faced 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino in the third round and came back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) to book his place in the fourth round of the US Open for the fourth successive year.
Tiafoe will face Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata for a place in the quarterfinals.
Taylor Fritz has also looked in good touch in Flushing Meadows and is yet to drop a set. The 25-year-old beat compatriot Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 and followed it up by defeating Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. He then registered another comprehensive win over Jakub Mensik, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 and booking his place in the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in his career.
Fritz will face Dominic Stricker and the winner of the match will face either second seed Novak Djokovic or Borna Gojo in the quarterfinals.
Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton are the other US male players in the fourth round of the New York Major and will face one another. Paul beat Stefano Travaglia, Roman Safiullin and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina while Shelton triumphed over Pedro Cachin, Dominic Thiem and Aslan Karatsev.
Given that there are two all-American fixtures in the fourth round of the singles tournaments, we are assured of at least two quarterfinalists from the United States at Flushing Meadows