Grigor Dimitrov vs. Andrei Rublev, US Open R4
Two best friends, one big battle. The burgeoning “bromance” between Grigor Dimitrov and Andre Rubio has had its fair share of laughs, smiles and quotable references over the years, but when the pair met with a spot in the US Open quarterfinals on the line, a five-set tie broke. was added. About the first time the pair ever went head-to-head.
A match that looked straightforward for Dimitrov, who won the pair’s only previous Grand Slam meeting in 2018, soon turned into anything but. The Bulgarian took a two-set love lead (which included a rally from 5-3 down to win the second), but Rublev, who has reached the US Open quarterfinals three times in the past four years, fought back. What did you do? Taking sets three and four to set the winner-take-all final frame.
But Dimitrov finally had the answers, winning 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, his 450th career win, and the hard courts But it was his 300th win. A break was needed in the fourth game of the fifth set, eventually sending him out after three hours and 39 minutes on court.
Daniil Medvedev vs. Hubert Herkaz, Australian Open QF
Entering the 2024 Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev had lost just twice before the semifinals at a hard-court major prior to the 2020 US Open. But to continue his streak, he needed to get past an in-form opponent who was riding the pace against him, not just early in the season. The former world No. 1 had lost his last two matches to Hubert Herkaz, who arrived in Melbourne after finishing runner-up at the United Cup with Iga Svitek and breaking into the world’s top 10, but in less than four hours Medvedev had his Scored a goal. First win at Poole since 2021, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Medvedev had already played a five-set match against Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round, and there was no reason to think the same result was on the horizon as he outlasted the big server in the first-set tiebreak, and himself got two games. away to win in the fourth set. But Harkaz captured four of the five games to send the match the distance.
Looking tired as the decider began, Medvedev nevertheless stayed within himself and took advantage of his start when it arrived.
But the seeds of what was to come for the Russian later in the tournament had already been sown: Medvedev later admitted that the match “devastated” him.
“It’s not that I ran out of gas, but I was already feeling very physically stiff at the end of the second set,” he admitted on court to John McEnroe.
“Fourth set, I just [had] There’s no more concentration and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to do the best I can and let’s see. If I lose, I lose, I go home and that’s fine.’ I am happy that I managed to win like this.”
It was the second of four five-setters that Medvedev played in Melbourne, as he went the distance in the semi-finals against Alexander Zverev and in the final against Janek Sner.
Francis Tiafoe vs. Ben
Shelton, US Open R3
It is often said that sequels are never as good as the original. Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, though, either had never heard of this old edge or actively ignored it when they took the court at the US Open for the second year in a row.
In 2023, Shelton defeated Tiafoe in a four-set quarterfinal, the first meeting between two black American men in his home town of Salem. The replay featured another set, and a different winner, as Tiafoe prevailed in the third round 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 in over four hours. Won the victory.
The older of the two Americans kicked his year into gear with a five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, one of our Comebacks of the Year. But even before that, Tiafoe was tired of, in his words, “losing to clowns.” He carried this loss to Alcaraz to the point where he and Shelton faced off at Arthur Ashe Stadium very early on, both men nearing the height of their respective powers.
The combination made for one of the most memorable matches of the first week, posting a combined 107 winners in just over four hours on court, but Tiafoe’s overall experience saw him over the finish line in five.
“Ben is an incredible player, man, and he brings a lot of stuff. It was definitely a tough match,” Tiafoe said. “But I think, I’m not just saying this because we just talked in the locker room, but I think the level this year was a lot higher than what we played last year in five sets. ”
Carlos Alcaraz vs Genic
Sinner, Roland Garros SF
The last time Sner and Carlos Alcaraz played in a Grand Slam tournament before 2024, at the 2022 US Open, they played a five-hour, five-setter titanic under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium that ended at 2:50 p.m. happened In a new freshman tournament record.
How could they possibly follow that up at Terre Bateau in Paris, where the Roland Garros final is at stake? The rematch was no less thrilling despite being an hour shorter, with Alcaraz winning two sets to one in four hours, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. . And nine minutes.
Alcaraz’s second of three wins against Sinner in 2024, the Spaniard famously succumbed to pain after losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic in the same round a year earlier.
“I told myself it’s going to be a long match. It’s a grand slam, that he has to win two more sets. So it’s going to be a long match, so I have to stay positive to stay there. ” said later.
While Alcaraz initially cut a disappointing figure as Sunner dominated the first set, he summed things up as “high intensity” in the press room after the match. He nearly doubled Sinner’s number of winners, 65 to 39, and an early break of Sinner’s serve in the fifth set gave Alcaraz a lead he never relinquished, despite Sinner’s best efforts.
“I’m going to say the key was that I took advantage of the opportunities that Janek brought me in the match,” the Spaniard said. “The break points I had, I took them. In the fifth set, the first break point I had, I took them. –tennis.com