U.S. Open Day Six Recap: Four American Men Into U.S. Open Round of 16
We’ve reached the Round of 16 at the 2024 U.S. Open, and 25 percent of the remaining men represent the United States.
Tommy Paul defeated Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(3) on Saturday afternoon to join three of his fellow Americans in the fourth round. The 14th seeded Paul joins 12th seed Taylor Fritz, 20th seed Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima in the final 16.
“It’s amazing,” Paul said of the American success thus far. “I wish we had ten guys, but it’s fun watching them. Obviously the match yesterday, I hope that you guys watched that with Ben and Foe. That was an amazing match. I think there’s going to be a lot more of those in the next five to ten years. We have a great group of guys, and Nakashima is stepping up. He’s playing awesome.”
The other three Americans won their third-round matches on Friday. Tiafoe defeated fellow American Ben Shelton in a thrilling five-set affair in a rematch from last year’s event.
Fritz rolled past Argentina’s Francisco Comesana 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to book his spot in the final 16, while Nakashima continued his great summer with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) upset win over 18th seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
“It’s an unbelievable experience here,” Nakashima said. “To make the fourth round, as an American, it’s just a very exciting time for me. To play in front of these crowds, get that home support, it’s just super special. I’ll just treasure these moments as I get through them.”
Nakashima will play fourth-seed and former finalist Alexander Zverev, while Tiafoe meets 28th seeded Australian Alexei Popyrin.
Standing in front of Fritz and the quarterfinals is another former finalist, eighth-seeded Casper Ruud.
“It’s an exciting time,” Paul added. “We all want to do really, really well here. We all want to make it to the last weekend.”
