US Open Tennis: Sinner, Świątek reach quarterfinals, Muchova beats Paolini

“I think it was a very difficult, difficult match,” Muchova told reporters. “I was actually a little nervous. I don’t know why. It was a strange match. I felt strange the whole match, but I’m glad I won.”

Muchova outscored Paolini 3-1 in aces and 17-10 in game winners in her 6-3, 6-3 victory. She converted 4 of 7 break point opportunities, compared to 1 of 3 for the Italian, in the straight-set victory.

Muchova will face No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the quarterfinals. Haddad Maia eliminated No. 71 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in a three-set thriller that lasted two hours and 41 minutes at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Brazilian scored five aces, 40 winners and converted five of eight break point opportunities. Wozniacki scored 23 winners and converted just three of 16 break point opportunities.

The winner of the Muchova-Haddad Maia match will face either Swiatek or No. 6 Jessica Pegula of the United States in the semifinals. Pegula won the first wave of matches on Monday.

She defeated No. 18 Diana Shnaider of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in a fourth-round match that lasted 87 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pegula outscored Shnaider 6-1 in aces and 22-14 in winners. She also converted 5 of 10 break points. Shnaider converted 2 of 9 break-point opportunities.

Pegula has never made it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. She is poised for her seventh major singles quarterfinal.

Swiatek of Poland needed just 90 minutes to beat No. 17 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 6-4, 6-1. The No. 1 player in women’s singles had three aces, 14 winners and 19 unforced errors. She converted 3 of 8 break point opportunities. Samsonova had one ace, 11 winners and 24 unforced errors. She did not create a break point opportunity.

In the men’s tournament, No. 25 Jack Draper of Great Britain defeated No. 39 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals.

Draper will face No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarterfinals. The winner of that match will face No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy or No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the semifinals. De Minaur defeated No. 32 Jordan Thompson, a fellow Australian, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a fourth-round match that lasted nearly three hours.

Thompson outscored de Minaur 6-5 in aces and 34-31 in winners, but made 59 unforced errors compared to his opponent’s 26. De Minaur broke Thompson’s serve seven times. Thompson converted three of four break-point opportunities.

Sinner advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-1 victory over No. 14 Tommy Paul of the United States. Sinner outscored the American 10-4 on aces. In total, he made 33 unforced errors, compared to Paul’s 43.

Medvedev advanced with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 triumph over No. 34 Nuno Borges of Portugal. Medvedev had nine aces, 21 winners and 20 unforced errors. He also converted seven of 10 break point opportunities. Borges had five aces, 19 winners and 51 unforced errors. He converted one of five break point opportunities.

No. 12 Emma Navarro of the United States will face No. 29 Paula Badosa of Spain in the first quarterfinal match of the day Tuesday in Flushing. The winner will face No. 7 Zheng Qinwen of China or No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the semifinals. Sabalenka and Zheng will meet in the quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

German No. 4 Alexander Zverev will face American No. 12 Taylor Fritz in the first men’s singles quarterfinal on Day 9. The match will start after Badosa-Navarro.

No. 20 Frances Tiafoe of the United States will face No. 9 Gregor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in another men’s quarterfinal after Zheng-Sabalenka.

The US Open will be broadcast on Tuesday from 12:00 to 23:00 on ESPN.