US Open: Frances Tiafoe reaches last 16 after failing to drop a set

Frances Tiafoe progressed to the second week of the US Open with a straight-sets victory over Diego Schwartzman Saturday afternoon.

The No. 22 seed upset the No. 14 seed on Louis Armstrong coming out on top 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Tiafoe has entertained at the Grand Slam tournament and he’s found form with the American yet to drop a set.

The 24-year-old will face Rafael Nadal after the 22-time Grand Slam winner beat Richard Gasquet in straight sets on Arthur Ashe Saturday night. 

Tiafoe followed fellow American Jessica Pegula into the next round after she beat qualifier Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-7, 6-0 earlier in the day.

The 28-year-old No. 8 seed tuned in for Serena Williams’ last match from her hotel room the night before her victory.

‘Of course I watched Serena. I’m like everyone else,’ she said.

‘You feel kind of sad that’s how it ends. But, I don’t know, like I got a little, like, sentimental, too, watching her, how emotional she was getting.’ 

Pegula had wasted a chance to close out the victory a half-hour earlier when she wasn’t able to convert her match point, but quickly regrouped.

Tiafoe followed fellow American Jessica Pegula into the next round after she beat a qualifier

Pegula started her Grand Slam career by going 3-8. She’s gone 22-7 since, including runs to quarterfinals at the Australian Open each of the past two years and the French Open this year.

The 28-year-old American, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, came into Saturday with an 0-2 record in third-round matches at Flushing Meadows, including a loss to Petra Kvitova in 2020. She gets another shot at her Monday.

‘Petra is so hard to play. I feel like when she’s on, she blows you off the court. And then sometimes she can be off. .. She’s a fighter. When it clicks, it´s really difficult,’ Pegula said, then was sure to add: ‘I think I’m a much better player now than I was when I played her last time.’

American Tiafoe is yet to drop a set at the US Open and will face Rafael Nadal in next round

American Danielle Collins saved three set points in the tiebreaker to knock off Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) in a match between two players who had eliminated former US Open champions.

Collins defeated two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka in a straight-sets win in the opening round and Cornet beat defending champion Emma Raducanu in straight sets in the first round.

The 19th-seeded Collins hit a whopping 52 winners against Cornet and moved on to the round of 16 for the first time in her career to play Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka has three wins over Collins and beat her in last year’s US Open.

Cornet, who played in her Open-era record 63rd straight Grand Slam, had only 17 winners.

Danielle Collins saved three set points in the tiebreaker to knock off Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-6

No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek beat Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round at the US Open.

Swiatek won the last five games of the second set and has a potential path to a US Open championship that does not include any past tournament champions. With Serena Williams headed into retirement following her loss Friday, there’s not a single past champion still playing in the tournament.

That could open the door for Swiatek – and with all eyes now on the player plastered on a Times Square billboard ad.

Davis, who had reached the third round at the US Open for the first time, needed a trainer to check on her during the first set. She took a short break but played the rest of the match without incident.

The two-time French Open champion, Swiatek came to the US Open just 4-4 in her last eight matches after winning 37 straight, but has breezed through her matches in Flushing Meadows. She had 25 winners against Davis.