Tiafoe finally cracks Medvedev, Michelsen has not lost a set: the US Open gets an all-American quarterfinal

Frances Tiafoe had won one of his seven meetings with Daniil Medvedev before Sunday night in New York, and it took him three tie-break-laced sets to make that record irrelevant, the American No. 11 seed beating the Russian No. 7 seed 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (6) to return to the US Open quarterfinals.

Waiting for him is a compatriot almost nobody had penciled in: Alex Michelsen, who beat Argentina’s No. 27 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4 and has not lost a set all tournament.

Tiafoe turns a losing record into a fifth straight top 10 win

The head-to-head said one thing and this season says another. Tiafoe has now beaten five consecutive top 10 opponents, and the win over Medvedev was the 17th of his career against that group. It was also his ninth win in his last ten matches, and it carried him into a fourth US Open quarterfinal.

The scoreline records how little separated them. Tiafoe took the first-set tie-break 7-1 and the third 8-6, and the only set decided on serve alone went to him as well. Medvedev, a former champion here, had been the better player of the two in six of their previous seven meetings.

Michelsen joins Del Potro and Etcheverry on a very short list

Michelsen, 22, ranked No. 46 and unseeded, has reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time, and has done it without conceding a set: past Italian qualifier Federico Cina 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, past Spain’s Daniel Merida 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, past American No. 16 seed Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and now past Etcheverry.

That combination has been managed twice before this century by an unseeded player. Juan Martin del Potro did it at the US Open in 2016 while ranked No. 142, and Etcheverry did it at Roland-Garros in 2023 while ranked No. 49. The Argentinian, now ranked No. 32 and 32 in the world of eight days ago, was the man dismantling that record on Sunday from the wrong side of the net. He had reached the last 16 by beating compatriot Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, British lucky loser Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and Czech Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

Michelsen is also the first man born in 2004 to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, which places a marker for his entire age group rather than for himself alone.

Two Americans, one semifinal place

The two have arrived from opposite directions. Tiafoe has been here before, four times at this tournament alone, and spent Sunday night settling an account with an opponent who had owned the matchup. Michelsen has been here never, and has spent a fortnight not giving anyone a set to work with. Whichever of them comes through, the United States will have a man in the US Open semifinals.

US Open, men’s singles, fourth round schedule

A. Zverev [1] vs L. Darderi [21] – scheduled Monday
A. Gea (L) vs B. Van de Zandschulp – scheduled Monday
K. Khachanov vs L. Tien [14] – scheduled Monday
F. Cerundolo [24] vs A. Blockx [28] – scheduled Monday
F. Tiafoe [11] d. D. Medvedev [7]: 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
A. Michelsen vs T. Etcheverry [27]: 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4
B. Shelton [8] vs S. Tsitsipas – Sunday, Arthur Ashe Stadium, 7:00 PM
C. Alcaraz [2] d. T. Paul [20]: 6-4, 6-3, 6-4