Thiem, Medvedev breeze through to US Open quarters

Auger-Aliassime, 20, beat Britain’s Andy Murray in round two but lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-1 against Thiem.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev only needed an hour and 38 minutes to defeat unseeded American Frances Tiafoe.

The Russian, last year’s beaten finalist at Flushing Meadows, went through 6-4 6-1 6-0. He will face compatriot Andrey Rublev for a place in the last four after the 22-year-old came from a set down to beat Italy’s sixth seed Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

Thiem, third in the world, is the highest-ranked player left in the men’s singles after world number one Novak Djokovic was disqualified when he accidentally hit a tennis ball at a line judge during his match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday. But the Austrian said he took nothing for granted against his Canadian rival. “I was really nervous before as I knew I was going to play against an amazing opponent, an up-and-coming superstar,” said the 27-year-old.

“I started to have a great feeling in the second and third set.” Thiem will face 21-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur after the 21st seed beat Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-2.

Champion Serena Williams battled through a challenging three-set test against Greek 15th seed Maria Sakkari to reach the quarter-finals.

The third seed lost a close tie-break in the second and was forced to find her best tennis to come from a break down in the third and win 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 almost two hours later.

Her next opponent is Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, who has never reached the US Open quarter-finals before and is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon 2017. Pironkova beat French world number 56 Alize Cornet 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3. American second seed Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, lost 6-3 6-3 to Elise Mertens of Belgium.

Meanwhile, Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday failed to secure a semi-final spot after losing 5-7, 5-7 to the Dutch-Romanian duo of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the quarter-finals.

MEN: Thiem bt Auger Aliassime 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1; Medvedev bt Tiafoe 6-4, 6-1, 6-0; Rublev bt Berrettini 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. 

Women: Mertens bt Kenin 6-3, 6-3; Azarenka bt Muchova 5-7, 6-1, 6-4; Serena Williams bt Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3; Pironkova bt Cornet 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3