Aryna Sabalenka "doesn't want to leave" the US Open as she bids to reach a fourth consecutive semi-final at Flushing Meadows.

The Belarusian beat Elise Mertens to reach the quarter-finals, with Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng standing between her and a place in the final four.

It is the second time the pair will meet in 2024 after Sabalenka overcame Zheng in straight sets to win her second consecutive Australian Open title in January.

Sabalenka reached the final of the US Open last year, losing out to Coco Gauff, who was knocked out in the fourth round, leaving the 26-year-old as one of the favourites to clinch the title this year.

"I really enjoy playing on these big stadiums," Sabalenka said.

"I feel all the support. I just don't want to leave early here.

"I just want to stay as long as I can and enjoy this beautiful court and beautiful atmosphere."

Sabalenka is the first player to make the quarter-finals at the US Open in women's singles for 4+ consecutive years since Serena Williams (six in a row between 2011 and 2016).

And she will be looking to emulate the American's record of reaching the semi-finals in 4+ consecutive years on Tuesday.

Jannik Sinner is anticipating a gruelling US Open quarter-final clash with Daniil Medvedev after producing some of his best tennis of the year to beat Tommy Paul in the fourth round.

Sinner made a slow start against the home favourite in front of a raucous crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, swiftly going two breaks down before recovering his composure.

He needed tie-breaks to take the first two sets but produced a mesmerising display in the third, wrapping up a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 victory to ensure he has reached at least the quarter-finals of all four grand slams in 2024.

Sinner has also made the last eight at his first 12 ATP-level events this year. At the age of 23 years and 17 days, he is the second-youngest man to achieve that feat in the Open Era, after Jimmy Connors in 1974 (21 years, 290 days).

While early exits for Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have seen the opposite side of the draw open up, things do not get any easier for the world number one as he faces Medvedev next.

The Russian, who won the 2021 edition of the US Open, trounced Nuno Borges 6-0 6-1 6-3 in his own fourth-round matchup and has won 11 straight sets of tennis.

Sinner, meanwhile, has struggled with hip problems throughout the season and was seen clutching the area after stumbling during one long rally versus Paul.

He is hopeful of overcoming that concern ahead of Wednesday's quarter-final but knows he will be pushed all the way by Medvedev.

"For sure mentally I didn't start very well. I was a double break down in the first set. I tried to stay there mentally and for sure this was one of the keys to win this match," Sinner said. 

"I served very well in the beginning of the match. There are some ups and downs obviously in best of five, it's normal to have that. 

"But finding my rhythm in the end of the match hopefully helps for the next match, so let's see.

"There's going to be a lot of rallies so hopefully I'll be ready physically. We'll try to do our best on court and hopefully you guys enjoy it."

The winner of Sinner's clash with Medvedev will face either Jack Draper or Alex de Minaur for a spot in the final, with the former reaching his maiden grand slam quarter-final by beating Tomas Machac 6-3 6-1 6-2.

Draper, who is the first British man to make the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows since Andy Murray in 2016, told Sky Sports after his win: "I feel amazing being in the last eight.

"My first quarter-final, it means the absolute world to me. I've definitely felt more and more confident in myself."

Iga Swiatek believes she is growing into the US Open and improving with each day that passes after storming into the quarter-finals by beating Liudmila Samsonova.

Five-time grand slam winner Swiatek is hunting her second title at Flushing Meadows, and she will face home favourite Jessica Pegula in the last eight after overcoming Samsonova 6-4 6-1.

She needed just over an hour and a half to see off the 16th seed on Monday in what represented her 100th main-draw match at grand slams.

Among those to begin their careers in the Open Era, only six female players have bettered Swiatek's total of 83 victories through their first 100 major outings.

Monica Seles managed 93 wins, putting her ahead of Chris Evert (90), Steffi Graf (87), Martina Hingis, Serena Williams (both 86) and Venus Williams (85).

Swiatek is also one of just four players in the last two decades to win 12 straight grand slam matches versus WTA top-20 opponents, alongside Graf, Seles and Serena Williams.

She still believes there is more to come, though, as she approaches Tuesday's headline tussle with sixth seed Pegula.

"At the beginning, I felt like we were playing men's style, just holding our serves but I knew that if I kept pushing I may get some chances to break," Swiatek said. 

"That happened and I'm happy I was there to close the first set. Then I just wanted to keep being focused and not let my mind drift off.

"I'm happy with the whole performance. I'm feeling better and better every day."

The victor of Swiatek's meeting with Pegula will face Karolina Muchova or Beatriz Haddad Maia for a place in the final, after the former upset Jasmine Paolini and the latter overcame Caroline Wozniacki.

Haddad Maia's' 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over Wozniacki – who won the 2018 Australian Open – made her just the second South American woman to claim multiple US Open victories over former grand slam winners (two), alongside Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini.

Luis Severino's seven sharp innings allowed the rolling New York Mets to further close the gap in the National League wild card race with Monday's 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Severino (10-6) scattered six hits while yielding one run to win his third consecutive decision and lead the Mets to a fifth straight victory. New York, now 12-5 over its last 17 games, moved within a half-game of the Atlanta Braves for the NL's final wild card spot.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor continued a hot stretch as well by going 2 for 3 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Luis Torrens also went 2 for 3 for New York, which also received a run-scoring double from Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo's hit followed a single by Lindor in the bottom of the third inning and snapped a 1-1 tie, and the Mets pushed home two more runs against Boston starter Brayan Bello in the fourth to increase the margin.

After DJ Stewart started a two-out rally with a single, Torrens lashed a double to left that enabled Stewart to score when Boston's Tyler O'Neill misplayed the ball caroming off the wall. A Lindor single then brought home Torrens for a 4-1 advantage.

The Mets had their first run set up by back-to-back singles by Jose Iglesias and Jeff McNeil in the second inning that put runners at first and third, with Iglesias crossing the plate on a double-play grounder off the bat of Starling Marte.

Boston would pull even in the top of the third when Ceddane Rafaela tripled and scored on Jarren Duran's single. 

Severino shut down Boston's offence from that point on, though, with Danny Young and Phil Maton closing out the win with a scoreless inning each.

Bello (12-7) gave up all four New York runs in five innings of work in the latest loss for the slumping Red Sox, who have now dropped three straight and eight of 11.

Torres, Cole help keep Yankees atop AL East

Gleyber Torres had three hits, including a go-ahead two-run double, and Gerrit Cole struck out nine over six strong innings as the New York Yankees maintained their slim lead atop the American League East with an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers.

Anthony Rizzo also had a two-run double for New York in his second game back from a broken arm, while Giancarlo Stanton added a solo homer to help keep the Yankees a half-game ahead of Baltimore in the race for the AL's best record. The Orioles kept pace with a 13-3 rout of the White Sox, the 11th straight loss for Chicago.

Cole (6-3) held the Rangers to one run on four hits before departing due to a cramp in his right calf he developed while warming up for the seventh inning. 

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner had a 7-1 lead at that point, with Torres opening the scoring with a third-inning double that drove in Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo, both of whom reached on singles off Jack Leiter.

Cole's lone blemish occurred in the bottom of the third, when Josh Smith delivered a two-out double that brought in Marcus Semien, who was aboard on a fielder's choice that followed Leody Taveras' single.

Leiter (0-2) kept it a 2-1 game until the sixth, which Torres and Juan Soto began with singles before Aaron Judge ended the rookie's night with a run-scoring double.

The Yankees would put up four more runs before the end of the inning. Jazz Chisholm brought home Soto with a single, Rizzo knocked in two more with an opposite-field double and Chisholm scored on a wild pitch to increase the margin to 7-1.

Wyatt Langford's two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh got Texas a little closer, but Stanton opened the eighth with his 25th homer of the season to push New York's lead to 8-3.

Langford added a double in the ninth inning that followed a single by Josh Jung, who scored the Rangers' final run on a groundout by Jonah Heim.

Freeman, Ohtani lead another Dodgers' offensive outburst vs. Diamondbacks

Freddie Freeman homered twice and knocked in five runs, Shohei Ohtani stole three more bases, and the Los Angeles Dodgers punished Arizona Diamondbacks pitching once again in an 11-6 victory that allowed the NL West leaders to win an important four-game series.

The Dodgers hammered out 17 hits, including five from Teoscar Hernandez, en route to their 11th win in 14 games. Los Angeles took three matchups in this series while totalling 32 runs and averaging 13 hits over the four games.

Ohtani finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored while running his stolen base total to 46 as he bids to become the first player in MLB history with 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season. 

Mookie Betts also had two hits while driving in three runs to help the Dodgers maintain a five-game advantage over the second-place San Diego Padres in the division. The Diamondbacks are now six back after losing for the fourth time in five games.

Los Angeles also got a solid pitching performance from Jack Flaherty, who fanned seven while holding Arizona to one run in 5 2/3 innings to improve to 4-1 in six starts since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers in late July. 

Freeman's first home run, a two-run shot off Eduardo Rodriguez in the third inning, staked Los Angeles to a 3-0 lead. The blast came with Betts aboard after the fellow All-Star reached on a single that plated Chris Taylor, who opened the inning with a double.

Arizona got a run back in the bottom of the third when Eugenio Suarez doubled and later scored on Corbin Carroll's groundout.

It remained a 3-1 game until Ohtani singled in the seventh, stole both second and third base, and crossed the plate on Freeman's sacrifice fly after Betts was intentionally walked. Hernandez followed with a single and stole second before he and Betts were brought in on Will Smith's single that extended the lead to 6-1.

The Diamondbacks did close the gap in their half of the seventh. Suarez and Luis Guillorme singled before Geraldo Perdomo drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and Jake McCarthy another on a groundout.

Los Angeles answered with a five-run eighth, however, highlighted by Freeman's two-run homer that made the score 10-3. Betts had preceded Freeman's shot with a two-run double, while Hernandez later delivered another hit before eventually scoring on Tommy Edman's single. 

Suarez capped a three-hit night with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, and the Diamondbacks managed two runs in the ninth via Josh Bell's single that brought home Carroll and Randal Grichuk.

Daniil Medvedev breezed into the US Open quarter-finals with a commanding straight-sets win over Nuno Borges on Monday.

As the only former men's champion still in the competition, the Russian put out a statement with his 6-0 6-1 6-3 victory in just one hour and 48 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Medvedev showed his intent early in the match, winning every game in the first set as Borges failed to find his footing and struggled to put the 2021 champion under any pressure.

The Portuguese did win his first game at the start of the second set, but Medvedev was soon back in control, going on another six-game winning streak to put him out of sight.

Borges finally showed some fight in the final set, though it was too little too late. He got his first, and only, break of the match, but could not push his advantage as the world number five claimed two of his own to book his place in the next round.

He will face either world number one Jannik Sinner or Tommy Paul in the next round at Flushing Meadows. 

Data Debrief: Statement of intent

Since losing the second set of his first match in New York, Medvedev has not looked back, going on to win every single one since.

Borges barely laid a hand on him in the fourth round though, as Medvedev stayed on top by successfully converting eight break points - he has now converted 29 such points at the US Open this year, the most of any player.

Since 2019, when the 28-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time, no player has reached this stage more in men's singles than Medvedev (five).

Jessica Pegula is through to the quarter-finals of the US Open after beating Diana Shnaider in straight sets on Monday.

She ensured she would not suffer a second consecutive fourth-round exit at Flushing Meadows, winning 6-4 6-2 in 88 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The American is on a hot streak since the tour returned to the North American hard courts, having already won the Canadian Open before reaching the final in Cincinnati, only to lose out to Aryna Sabalenka.

Pegula staunchly defended four break points in the second game, but three consecutive breaks put her in control of the first set despite Shnaider's spirited fight back.

The Russian, who is the youngest player to reach this year's fourth round, could not maintain that level n the second though, as Pegula got another two breaks in the second set and won the last three games to ensure she would go into the final eight.

Pegula will face either world number one Iga Swiatek or Liud Samsonova in the next round as she bids to reach a first-ever grand slam singles semi-final.

Data Debrief: Home advantage

Having failed to get past the second round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024, Pegula has already beaten her best grand slam result of the year.

She has now reached the quarter-finals of Canada, Cincinnati and the US Open in the same year for the second time in her career (also 2022). She is one of just four women to achieve this across multiple seasons during the Open Era.

Pegula is 13-1 on hard court this year, and will be hoping she can continue her impressive run, especially having gone 0-6 in her previous grand slam quarter-finals.

Rory McIlroy is planning to cut down the number of tournaments he enters in 2025 after a congested season that will include 27 events this year.

The Northern Irishman finished tied for ninth place in the Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend, his 22nd event of the year.

McIlroy started the year strong, winning the Dubai Desert Classic before triumphing at the Wells Fargo Championship in May.

He also came close to ending his decade-long wait for a major title, but agonisingly missed out to Bryson DeChambeau by one shot at the U.S. Open after a late collapse, prompting him to take a short break.

"It's been a long season, and I'm going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover," said McIlroy.

"My season is not over, obviously. I've still got five events left to play," he said.

"But yeah, I feel like the tournaments came thick and fast, and obviously, with the Olympics thrown in there, as well, this year, it sort of condensed everything a bit."

Since the U.S. Open, McIlroy has struggled to show his early-season form, missing the cut at The Open Championship and finishing fifth at the Paris Olympics while representing Team Ireland.

The 35-year-old still has five tournaments left this year, including next week's Irish Open at Royal County Down.

Asked how many tournaments is too many in one year, McIlroy replied: "27. I'm usually sort of like a 22 sort of person. But again, that was when I was sort of in my 20s and didn't have the responsibilities that I do now.

"I'm going to try to cut it back to like 18 or 20 a year going forward, I think."

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has dismissed the idea that their meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday is a "revenge game".

The Ravens kick off the new NFL season against the reigning Super Bowl champions, having lost the AFC Championship game against them in January.

It was a fourth loss in six postseason games with Jackson as their starting quarterback and a fourth defeat against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in his career.

However, the 27-year-old has brushed off any suggestions that Baltimore will be using the AFC Championship game as extra motivation on Thursday.

"Any game I play in, I feel like it's a revenge game," Jackson said, via the team's website. "I'm not just going to look at this game like a revenge game.

"Anybody we play, no matter if we've beaten them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win."

Jackson has led the Ravens to their best records in the NFL since joining in 2018, going 14-2 in 2019 and 13-4 last year. In the regular season, he has the second-best record at 58-19 (.753).

Jackson, who became the youngest-ever two-time NFL MVP since the AFL merger in February, is keen to make a quick start, though he is not getting too far ahead of himself.

"We have to win regular season games [in order] to get to January," Jackson added.

"We can't just go into the season and go 5-12, because then we're not going to be in the playoffs. Playoffs are on our mind, but at the same time, we have to win this game that's ahead of us."

"I'm ready to go. I've been going against my guys for weeks," Jackson said. "It's time to go against somebody else."

Zak Brown insisted that McLaren's papaya rules were made to be bent after Monza reignited the debate over whether team orders are needed at the British-based team.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris claimed second and third behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with the latter enduring another poor start after securing pole in qualifying. 

The Australian was able to make his way past his McLaren team-mate heading into Turn 4, with Piastri ultimately able to finish ahead of Norris at the end of the race.

However, McLaren recorded their fourth-best ever run of having one or both drivers on the podium (12), while also closing the gap in the constructors' championship. 

The gap to Red Bull now stands at eight points ahead of Baku in two weeks, with Norris also closing the gap to Max Verstappen to 62 points in the drivers' championship.

But in allowing their drivers to fight, McLaren opened the door for Ferrari to pounce, but Brown defended Piastri's move on his team-mate in the opening exchanges. 

“It was aggressive, it was an aggressive move [by Piastri],” Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the race.

“Their start was great and that was what we had discussed, kind of get behind the other and fan out to make sure nobody else could get by.

“I think Lando was caught by surprise with that move, thinking let’s just tuck into a one-two and see if we can pull a bit of a gap, so it’s something we’ll discuss internally.

“Papaya rules are it’s your team mate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch, that happened.

"It was an aggressive pass so that’s a conversation we’ll have, that was a bit nerve wracking on pit wall but it’s really just respect your team mate.

"Lando got a bad run out of that corner as well so it would have been nice to see them run one-two a bit longer.

"They didn’t touch, it was an aggressive pass but a clean pass.”

Despite McLaren's recent success, Ferrari's triumph at their home race has brought them back into contention for the constructors' championship and are just 31 points further back. 

The British-based team have failed to win the title since 1998 when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard worked together to deliver their eighth constructors' title. 

However, Brown remained firm in his assessment that McLaren would not prioritise one driver over the other for the remaining eight races of the season. 

“They are both young drivers who want to win. We have always believed in having two number ones," Brown said. 

"That’s always been McLaren’s way, it can be difficult to manage – we’ve seen it with Senna and Prost.

“They get along great, they do race each other clean and it’s philosophical – are you a one-car team or a two-car team?

"The easiest thing would have been for Lando to just run away with it, and then not have to put difficult decisions on the pit wall, but Andrea and I are taking it one race at a time.”