Dan Evans plans to fight fire with fire when he takes on defending champion and current world number one Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.
The British number two is through to the third round at Flushing Meadows for the sixth time in his career after a four-set win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
His ‘reward’ is a match-up with 20-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz, who picked up his first grand slam title in New York last year and added the Wimbledon crown earlier this summer.
Evans, seeded 26, said: “It’s a little annoying to have him in the top eight of the draw but it is what it is.
“It will be a good match. I am really looking forward to it and will play aggressively.
“It’s a very difficult draw. He will obviously be the overwhelming favourite but it’s a good opportunity to play a very good tennis player on a big stage. That is why you play tennis.”
Alcaraz has won both of their previous two meetings in straight sets, but Evans boasts a better record on the golf course after the pair played a few holes at Wimbledon.
“Of course, his golf is much better than mine, that’s for sure,” said Alcaraz. “We played a little bit before Wimbledon. We had such a great time at the course.”
Katie Boulter has reached the third round of an overseas grand slam for the first time and is on the brink of breaking into the world’s top 50.
The 27-year-old from Leicester faces Peyton Stearns, a young American who she lost to in three tie-breaks in a marathon match in Austin, Texas, in February.
“I actually played probably the longest match of my career against her in Austin this year,” she said. “It was a 7-6 in the third, five in the tie-break loss. It was a brutal match. Three hours and 25 minutes.
“I’m expecting a lot. I mean, she’s a real talent. She’s a great player. The courts suit her a lot here.
“Again, I know it’s going to be physical and I’m going to have to be ready and playing some of my best tennis to beat her.”
British number one Cameron Norrie has what looks like another winnable tie against Italian world number 61 Matteo Arnaldi.
But if he gets through, the 28-year-old will run into Alcaraz – or Evans – in the fourth round.
Jack Draper, who brilliantly accounted for 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday, faces American Michael Mmoh.
Sabalenka defeats Collins to set up Swiatek rematch
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.
Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.
And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.
The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.
This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.
She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.
Data Debrief: Perfect record
Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).
The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.
Swiatek makes it back-to-back finals with Gauff win
Iga Swiatek is through to the Italian Open final for the third time after seeing off Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
There was little to separate the two in the opening 50 minutes as they played to 4-4 before Gauff left an opening with back-to-back double faults, and Swiatek took full advantage.
The world number one broke Gauff’s serve four times, including in the fifth game of the second set to swing the momentum firmly in her favour after one hour 48 minutes on the court.
Swiatek has now reached back-to-back WTA 1000 finals after winning the Madrid Open earlier this month and could face Aryna Sabalenka for the title once more if the Belarusian gets past Danielle Collins in the other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Unstoppable on clay
Swiatek has now won 11 consecutive matches, and registered her 10th victory over Gauff in 11 meetings between the two - she has won all four matches against the American on clay.
Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek (40 per cent, 12/30) holds the highest percentage of finals reached from WTA-1000 main draws entered. Serena Williams (36.7 per cent, 18/49) is the next best in the format's history.
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Swiatek has become only the third player to reach multiple Italian Open finals as the WTA's number one, along with Serena Williams (three) and Monica Seles (two). She will be looking for her third Italian Open title on Saturday.
Paul sees off Hurkacz in seesaw quarter-final
Tommy Paul reached the semi-final of the Italian Open after pulling through a rollercoaster clash with Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.
The number 14 seed downed Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-final, keeping his composure during his two hours and 43 minutes on the court.
After winning the first set, Hurkacz fought back to win the second, but the American was not out of the contest yet as he clawed back from 0-2 down early in the third.
He closed out the win in a dramatic fashion, fending off six break points while letting three of his own slip, to eventually set up a semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Nicolas Jerry on Friday.
Data Debrief: Into the final four
After beating Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, Paul has now won back-to-back matches against top-10 opponents for the first time in his professional career with his victory over Hurkacz.
Paul earned his 150th tour-level win to take him through to his third Masters 1000 semi-final, as he aims to become the first American finalist in Rome since Andre Agassi in 2002.
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