Day 8 wrap-up 🌯 

Yesterday’s schedule extended late into the night with a Zverev-Sinner 4 hour 41 min epic. Our daily wrap up won’t take that long. Here’s what went down in a 2 min read.

🙋‍♀️ Starting with the women…

American No. 1 Jessica Pegula fell to Madison Keys in the day’s opener. Keys dominated with a 6-1, 6-3 victory, impressively hitting 21 winners and limiting Pegula to just 33% of her second serves.

Keys advances to face Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova, who rallied to beat Peyton Stearns 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. Vondrousova, despite falling behind early, won her 11th straight Slam match.

Ons Jabeur was defeated by 20-year-old Qinwen Zheng, who earned her first Top 10 win in a Slam. Zheng's next challenge is world No. 1 in waiting, Arya Sabalenka, who breezed past Daria Kasatkina.

The first quarterfinals kick off today with Coco Gauff facing Jelena Ostapenko in a match that promises fireworks. The temperature could be an advantage for Florida-born Gauff.

In the evening session, Karolina Muchova takes on Sorana Cirstea, with Muchova leading 3-1 in their tour-level encounters.

🙋‍♂️ On the men’s side...

Carlos Alcaraz displayed championship form defeating Italian rising star Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. The victory extends his 11-match winning streak at the US Open. Alcaraz blasted 31 winners in his first encounter with the 22-year-old Arnaldi.

Andrey Rublev secured his spot in the quarterfinals of the US Open, marking his third Slam quarterfinal appearance this season and fourth in New York. He overcame Jack Draper, the big-serving lefty, with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Daniil Medvedev sought revenge against Alex de Minaur and emerged victorious 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 on a humid night in NYC. The win qualified Medvedev for the the end of year Nitto ATP finals.

Finally, Alexander Zverev outlasted Jannik Sinner in the gruelling match of the day 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Both players displayed incredible determination, with Sinner battling cramps and Zverev making a comeback in the final set. Zverev's 10/11 net performance in the fifth set was crucial to his victory.

Today's men’s quarterfinals promise excitement as Novak Djokovic faces Taylor Fritz. And in the evening session, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton will clash for the first time.

😴 Late night at the US Open…

Djokovic & Sabalenka take top spots 🥇 

During this year’s US Open Aryna Sabalenka will clinch the WTA World No.1 title after Iga Swiatek's unexpected loss to Jelena Ostapenko. Novak Djokovic, who is also set to return to the ATP World No.1, sent Sabalenka a humourous congratulatory message that left her in laughing.

😂 What did Djokovic say?
Novak Djokovic's wrote a text to Sabalenka that when she opened it up read, "Smile if you'll become World No.1." Sabalenka couldn't help but chuckle at it as she captures the number one ranking for the first time of her career.

👍️ Desperately deserved
When the 2023 season started, 25-year-old Sabalenka had two major goals she wanted to accomplish - become a Grand Slam champion in singles and also reach the world No 1 spot for the first time in her career. John McEnroe shared his congratulations for her achievement, “Considering where she was a couple of years ago when she had the yips, and you’re wondering if she could ever get that serve together, I think it’s amazing what Sabalenka has done”

🏆 Djokovic's to return to ATP No.1
Novak Djokovic is poised to regain the ATP No.1 title after the US Open concludes. Unlike Carlos Alcaraz, who can't gain points even if he defends his title due to rule changes, Djokovic's absence in the 2022 tournament leaves him with everything to gain and nothing to lose.

📆 How many weeks has he been at no.1?
While this marked Sabalenka's first time as World No.1, Djokovic has dominated the ATP rankings with a record-breaking 389 weeks at the top. Roger Federer now trails with 310 weeks.

🤔 Is this a bigger deal for both players?
Both of their achievements are even more impressive given the amount of time both have been off tour. Sabalenka had previously be banned from Wimbledon and all UK events due to political decisions on the war in Ukraine. Djokovic on the other hand has had his tournament schedule restricted, especially in the US, due to his stance on vaccines. Both players have managed to accumulate enough points despite the constrains placed on them by governing authorities - worthy of respect.

Shot Clock 🎾⏰

🥒 A flurry of professional tennis players are picking up Pickleball - who’s next? ESPN scored solid ratings for its April Pickleball exhibition starring Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick. Now we are seeing more players pick up the pickle paddle such as Jack Sock, Sam Querry and Donald Young. Will John Isner be next?

💰️ Former world no.1 Maria Sharapova weighs in on WTA and ATP gender gap. Maria Sharapova criticized the gender pay gap in tennis 💰️, revealing that only 15-20% of the tour offers equal prize money, while the rest has a significant salary difference between men and women. She spoke at the UNMATCHED: Gender Equity in Sports conference in Toronto .

🙏 Iga Swiatek thanks Djokovic for praise "nice" and for making such “nice” comments about her game. At the US Open, record 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic spoke extremely highly of Swiatek's game as he provided a list of reasons why he finds the Pole an incredibly admirable player. Unfortunately it seem to only jinx Iga.

👏 Carlos Alcaraz matches Andre Agassi’s record at the US Open. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz became just the second man in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach three US Open quarter-finals under the age of 21 on Monday when he moved past Italian Matteo Arnaldi. While on the otherside Coco Gauff becomes the first US teen since Serena Williams 🐐 to reach consecutive US Open quarterfinals.

Hitting with Jiri Lechka 🇨🇿 

Aspiring pro and youtube tennis vlogger Simon Freund shared some insightful footage of himself getting to warm up with world no.29 Jiri Lechka ahead of the ATP 250 in Stockholm .

Freund goes into detail of what it is like to hit with a top 30 player as well as what goes through his head during and after the warm-up.

There are definitely some good take-aways which you can apply to your own game next time you step out on court .

Check out the video link below.

And if you don’t follow Simon, be sure to on YouTube and Instagram as he grinds is way on the Futures circuit.

⏯️ youtube.com/@Simon.Freund
📸 instagram.com/simon.freund