Alex Michelsen has moved into striking distance of a personal milestone at the US Open, where he is chasing a first Grand Slam semi-final.

The 22-year-old has advanced to the quarter-finals after a composed run that included straight-sets wins over Federico Cina, 16th seed Brandon Nakashima, Daniel Merida and 27th seed Tomas Martin Etecheverry. Each victory has added to the sense that the unseeded American is building something substantial in New York.

Michelsen, who was born in Aliso Viejo in southern Orange County, California, is only a step away from matching or bettering his career peak of No. 30. In the live ATP Rankings, the 6ft 4in player sits at No. 33, with ambitions that extend well beyond that. Whether he says them openly or not, the top 20, the top 10 and a major title remain part of the picture.

After his latest win, he offered a measured assessment of his progress, saying, “I’m doing everything pretty good, really happy. Really happy, but not really surprised after putting in all the hard work. I don’t have too many expectations on myself. I like to be a little more under the radar.”

His path to this stage has deep roots. He began playing at the age of three, with both parents having played college tennis, and his mother remains his biggest inspiration. As a junior, he reached the boys’ doubles final at the 2022 Australian Open, then won both singles and doubles at the Easter Bowl later that season. He also took the junior doubles title at Wimbledon in 2022 before turning professional.

Since then, Michelsen has collected an ITF title, a Challenger crown and reached an ATP final in Newport. He later earned his first top 10 win over Alex de Minaur in Los Cabos in 2024. He now enters Tuesday’s last-eight meeting with Frances Tiafoe still searching for a first ATP Tour title, but with his biggest opportunity yet unfolding at Flushing Meadows.

Alexander Zverev advanced to the US Open quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Luciano Darderi, then turned his attention to the timing of his matches rather than the result alone.

The top seed beat the Italian 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in their fourth-round meeting on Monday night. Darderi, the 21st seed, pushed harder as the match went on, but Zverev had already established control by then and closed out the contest in the third-set tiebreak.

It was another efficient performance for the French Open champion, who began the tournament with two five-set battles that both finished around 2am. Since then, he has moved through the last two rounds in more routine fashion. Even so, one theme has stayed constant across his campaign: he has played the final match on the tournament’s main show court every time.

That pattern led Zverev to joke about his relationship with the arena, saying he felt as if he were only renting it for the late hours. He also used his on-court interview to acknowledge Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, both of whom enjoyed remarkable success at the venue.

Looking ahead to his quarter-final against unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp later this week, Zverev made clear that he would welcome another night assignment. With the event moving deeper into the draw and fewer matches left, the night-session format will no longer be available in the same way, but he still intends to ask the organisers for the same scheduling.

He said in his on-court interview, “I don’t know what to do with myself because it’s before midnight. I might go back to the practice court, I might go out to a bar; I don’t know yet. Unfortunately, that was a joke; relax!”

He continued, “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough matches anymore, so I can’t play a second-night match, but I’ll request a night match for sure.

“You know how players sometimes go around saying, ‘This is my court’ when they win a great point. This is not my court at all.

“Roger Federer won here 78 times, Pete Sampras won here 112 times, but I feel like I rented this court out from 11pm to 2am for two weeks, so I hope they are going to continue putting me in the same time.”

Iga Swiatek’s US Open exit against Zheng Qinwen has prompted sharp questions about one part of her game that now looks in need of work.

The six-time Grand Slam champion arrived at the final major of the season with encouraging signs behind her. She had already won the Canadian Open and also reached the semi-final in Cincinnati, form that suggested she was closing in on her best level again.

That confidence seemed justified early in the match. Swiatek surged into a 5-0 lead against Zheng and appeared set to control the contest. Instead, the match turned dramatically. Zheng clawed her way back, won the next seven games, and took the opening set 7-5. The Chinese player then broke in games seven and nine of the second set to complete a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

The result carries broader significance for Swiatek. She will finish the year without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2021. For Zheng, the win sends her into the quarter-final of a major for the first time since the 2025 French Open.

Former world No 4 Zheng has had to battle through injury issues in recent seasons and came through qualifying to reach the main draw at Flushing Meadows.

Speaking to Eurosport and HBO Max, Mats Wilander pointed to Swiatek’s serve as the main concern, saying: “Zheng has been injured but when she plays well, she is one of the best players in the world. Today she didn’t play well and went down 5-0, but found her game and fought which was commendable.

“I thought she would give away that first set but found her game and outplayed Iga; outhit her. Iga didn’t play a terrible game, but Zheng outhit Iga, which is very hard to do.

As for Swiatek, her serve is a big concern for the former world No 1.

The Swede added: “Swiatek really couldn’t do anything. She needs to serve better I think. The serve has to be a weapon in women’s tennis today and her serve is not really a weapon. She has to work on that serve.

“I think Zheng is extremely fit, moves very well for a big girl and is extremely fit which really helps.”

Johanna Konta was also struck by Swiatek’s inability to reset once Zheng found rhythm. “I did think that at 5-2, Iga did get a little bit tentative and could feel the momentum shift. It spooked her and made her feel uncomfortable and she probably thought ‘oh my god, what am I doing wrong’,” she said.

“She didn’t adapt quickly enough but credit to Zheng, she really started to play herself into the match and took charge.

“Zheng showed ability from both wings; her forehand side is quite heavy, her backhand side is quite flat. So I thinks she is so tricky to adapt to against from Iga’s perspective, but there was no dip as the match went on.

“This is the beauty of tennis and why it’s so impressive when players can be so dominant throughout a whole match. It doesn’t take a lot for momentum to shift and you need to accept a battle in a match.

“They never start and finish in the same way and there is a constant back and forth between players, a constant adjusting to each other.

“In the end, the one that comes through is the one that can force a no answer from their opponent and that’s what Zheng did. Iga just couldn’t find an answer.”