2026 US Open Men's & Women's Quarterfinals - Day 2

Men’s Singles :

Zverev vs Van De Zandschulp :

This is the first meeting between these two and they’ve arrived here just as their games start to trend in opposite directions. Zverev opened the tournament with two 5 setters, but has coasted in his last two in straights. Botic won in straights his first two rounds, but the last two matches have been extremely difficult 5 setters. I do not know how much BVDZ has left for this, and the Gea match was a win but not really an inspiring one. He had trouble defending to his forehand side and hit the net a lot, and his backhand isn’t really a huge weapon so this is a problem. Zverev is also a decent returner as far as putting returns in play and can match Botic in the serve department, so this is a ton of work for Botic after two marathon matches. It’s almost 11pm in New York, so I’m going to shorten this a little. Zverev should win this in 3-4. I don’t think Botic has enough in the tank to grind this out, and he’s going to be in trouble in the backhand exchanges. Suddenly with this being the case he has to do a lot of work with his serve and forehand and I just don’t see him as the type of hyper-aggressive player who can give Zverev trouble.

Khachanov vs Blockx :

I really think this is a tough situation for Blockx. He’s clearly injured, but there’s no way he can bow out since this is his first very deep run at a major. He had very little pace on his serve early in the match against Cerundolo, and he took a medical timeout early in the match. Had Cerundolo hit the court, I feel he could have won, but Francisco played one of his roughest matchest of the tournament. Blockx has the makings of a top 20 stalwart. His service motion is very repeatable. His forehand is powerful and the swing is extremely quick even in pressure situations. He varies the spin to apply pressure and maintain depth, and he’s able to go down the line without spraying errors. Alex’s backhand was a liability when he was first appearing on tour, but he has really ironed out this wing and can hit cleanly and efficiently down the line when it’s open. The best thing about Blockx in my opinion is that he doesn’t shrink his game due to the score. At break point he goes for high level shots, and because he has the skill, he’s able to do this.

Now for the bad news. I think Khachanov is going to do exactly what Cerundolo couldn’t. He has to be feeling it from the 5 set Tien clash (which took almost 4 hours), but he played really solid in that match. Karen looked to be hitting a wall physically in the third, but he basically finished stronger than Tien. I also think anyone other than Learner would have had a super difficult time returning all the drives that Khachanov hit. He’s hitting the ball heavy off both wings and he’s showing good aggression and patience. Blockx has a better serve generally, but with him looking like he’s in pain, I think Khachanov’s consistency actually is a tool here, where sometimes his straightforward ball-bashing can make him a bit predictable. Blockx also isolated Cerundolo’s backhand and worked his inside out forehand constantly, and I think Khachanov is able to hang against this tactic (as Tien’s lefty forehand grinded this shot) and also make life difficult by going down the line (a shot he’s comfortable with). Healthy Blockx is even in this matchup because he’s such a quality player, but I think he’s going to lose in 4 due to Khachanov wearing him down.

Women’s Singles :

Andreeva vs Gauff :

Gauff is a wall. Andreeva is a wall. This gets us 1/3 of the way to a cube, and a cube is always the goal. Gauff and Andreeva have played 5 times, but 4 have been on clay. These matches have gone to Gauff, but that’s expected because she’s really difficult to hit through on clay and Andreeva can be a little more volatile with her approach. Their one hardcourt meeting was in 2023 at this event, and Gauff won that in two. Clay results don’t help much, and in 2023 Andreeva was not anywhere near as powerful as she is now, so here let’s just look at their current levels.

Andreeva is playing well, but last round Potapova gave her a very tough time. Potapova was able to grind and defend and earn errors. Andreeva can be prone to trying to play more creatively than her opponent, and when errors flow she can get a bit discouraged. This is not a disaster for a young player as maturity tends to come via these rough patches, but if Potapova is giving her a difficult time, Gauff is going to be frustrating also. Gauff played Jovic last round, and she continued to just be a stifling opponent to play. She hits her backhand with interest most of the time and she seems to be feeling more comfortable with her forehand this week. Andreeva has a more simple service delivery, but I think they’re going to be about equal here. Both are going to be putting a ton of returns in play, and I think Gauff hits the ball heavier overall and is faster and more durable here. I don’t like to see players get upset, but the US Open crowd can be a lot, and does not really understand tennis etiquette, so it is possible (we hope not but it should be mentioned) that Andreeva gets rattled during this match, which can affect her play. Gauff in 2. This is a really tough opponent to close out in straights if she isn’t playing her best, but she hasn’t dropped a set in the last 9 matches and the two players she dropped sets to before that were Rybakina and Samsonova, two players with huge offense.

Rybakina vs Zheng :

SHE CAN’T KEEP DOING THIS. For the second match in a row, Zheng has won a set 7-5 from 5-0 down. I don’t quite understand how you go 5-0 down with her quality, and I don’t understand how her opponents lose 7 in a row as good as they are. This is where I think on-court coaching visits would have ended her tournament already, but as things stand she has won two huge matches in a row. Rybakina won the last two against Zheng, but in Doha they went to 3. Beating Keys and Swiatek in the manner she did raises some doubts, but it also cannot be ignored. Zheng seems to be back. Even more puzzling, she’s managing these results while not really serving a good first serve percentage. She was at just 41% against Swiatek. It might be time for Swiatek to hire 1 additional coach. I do not know what this coach would do, but the current state of her tennis is basically a recipe for stressful matches and difficult defeats. She is ultra competitive, but you need to enjoy playing when you are a top player, or you get tense and “pls i just wanna win” squishes your game into a small box. I’m sure players are not allowed to take mushrooms, so I would humbly suggest that a meditation retreat would be a very good break to the monotony of tennis. Time away can make the game fun again, as we’re sort of seeing with Alcaraz.

I think Rybakina goes to 3 with Zheng, but Rybakina really stepped her game up against Osaka. Zheng can score on her from the baseline, but Elena is going to serve (based off evidence so far) at a much higher percentage than Zheng, and that is a good reason to like her side here. Rybakina in 3.