Denis Shapovalov is hurtling towards his main draw debut at the US Open, blasting into the final round of qualifying with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Gastao Elias.

The atmosphere on Court 11 was electric as the World No. 69 fought back from a break deficit in the second set to claim victory over the Portuguese in just 72 minutes. Fresh off his dream run to the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, the 18-year-old Canadian is looking to further build on his career-high position in the Emirates ATP Rankings at the final Grand Slam of the year.

“He started playing more aggressive and went for his shots [in the second set],” Shapovalov told ATPWorldTour.com. “It was a little tough to get back on track, but I did a good job to fight back. I’ve been in these situations a lot this year, so it’s just another match. Luckily I’ve been finding it within myself to try to pull those matches out and it’s going well.

“I feel lucky to be outside my country and have so many people to support me. And in such a great city like New York it’s so much fun to be out here. Hopefully the fans will come out again and take me as far as I can go.”

Shapovalov will face Jan Satral of the Czech Republic on Friday, with a berth in the main draw on the line. Satral, who reached the second round as a qualifier last year, defeated American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-3.

Fans on Court 13 were treated to arguably the match of the day between #NextGenATP stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini. Tsitsipas fought back from a set down to claim a 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 7-6(2) victory in two hours and 44 minutes. Berrettini denied four match points from 0/40 down at 5-4 in the decider, but could not stave off a fifth in the ensuing tie-break.

“I felt really bad when I lost those four match points,” said Tsitsipas. “But I knew that if I stopped playing, all my effort from these three sets would be gone. There was no reason to stop fighting. I still managed to keep my serve in the next game. Mentally it was really tough but I’ve been through this before and I realized how I needed to handle the situation.”

Tsitsipas joins American Michael Mmoh, Australia’s Akira Santillan and Shapovalov as the quartet of #NextGenATP to advance on Thursday. The Greek 19-year-old will face Nicolas Mahut, while Mmoh battles countryman Evan King and Santillan duels with University of Virginia standout JC Aragone.

American wild cards King and Aragone have shocked the field in reaching the third round in their Grand Slam qualifying debuts. The home hopes both fought back from a set down to prevail, with King defeating Renzo Olivo 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 and Aragone overcoming Riccardo Bellotti 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. King claimed his first ATP World Tour match win earlier this month in Los Cabos, while Aragone is making his tour-level debut. They join Mmoh, Tim Smyczek and Mitchell Krueger as American winners on Thursday.

“I don’t know how many US Opens I’ve played, but this is by far the most support I’ve gotten. I really like playing in front of the crowd” said Krueger, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Egor Gerasimov. “I’ve put myself in the best position I can. I have one goal this tournament and I need one more win.”

Krueger will bid to make his main draw debut when he faces Australia’s John-Patrick Smith, who defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day. The Fort Worth, Texas native owns a 3-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head edge, with all meetings having come on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Two players looking to qualify after enjoying great ATP Challenger Tour success in the month of August are Cameron Norrie and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe. Norrie notched his maiden title in nearby Binghamton, New York, while Stebe is coming off a victory in Vancouver on Sunday. Norrie will face Japanese veteran Go Soeda, while Stebe takes on Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia.

Meanwhile, top seed Leonardo Mayer is flying high after claiming his second ATP World Tour title in Hamburg last month. The Argentine extended his win streak to seven straight, having dropped a combined 11 games to reach the final round of qualifying. He cruised past Gleb Sakharov 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday, converting four of 16 break chances. Germany’s Maximilian Marterer awaits next.

Brit Kyle Edmund won his sixth match in as many days on Thursday, beating sixth seed Steve Johnson 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Winston-Salem Open semi-finals, his second semi-final of the season.

The 22 year old saved six of seven break points and overcame a strong serving day from Johnson, who hit 14 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-serve points. Edmund, for his part, defended his second serve well in the two-hour quarter-final, claiming nearly 75 per cent of those points.

The World No. 45 won two qualifying matches last weekend and has now won four main-draw contests in North Carolina. Edmund also reached the semi-finals at the BB&T Atlanta Open last month (l. to Harrison). He will next meet #NextGenATP Korean Hyeon Chung or Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzogovina.

Borna Coric led three #NextGenATP players into the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open Wednesday, in the process handing two-time champion John Isner his first defeat at the event. Coric, who on Monday slipped to fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan behind Jared Donaldson, will move back ahead of the American after reaching his first quarter-final since his strong run to the last eight at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, where he took out then-World No. 1 Andy Murray.

The 20-year-old Croatian claimed three breaks of serve against 6’ 10” Isner, who also dropped serve three times in his opening win Tuesday over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov. World No. 62 Coric will next meet German Jan-Lennard Struff, who reached his first quarter-final since Munich with a tough 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(3) win over Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.

 Korean Hyeon Chung and American Taylor Fritz are the other #NextGenATP Finals contenders who will appear in Thursday’s quarter-finals. Chung advanced when French veteran and former finalist Julien Benneteau retired early in the second set with an elbow injury. Currently eighth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, Chung will play Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur after the 25-year-old beat Argentine veteran Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 6-3.

Fritz, who at 14th in the Race has much work to do to qualify for Milan, toughed out a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win over Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi. Fritz converted all three break chances he earned, but also dropped serve three times himself.

“I did a really good job taking advantage of the chances on his serve to break.,” Fritz said. “My service games were a little tougher than i wanted them to be. He made some adjustments and had we gone to a third set I felt I would have been in a lot of trouble.”

A total of six Americans advanced to the second round of qualifying at the US Open on Wednesday, with #NextGenATP Michael Mmoh leading the pack. Blasting his forehand and backhand with precision, Mmoh earned a routine 6-3, 6-2 win over Igor Sijsling in 59 minutes.

“It definitely feels very special to get through, especially at a home tournament here at the US Open,” Mmoh told ATPWorldTour.com. I didn’t know what to expect. A few years ago he was ranked around 50 in the world and beat guys like Tsonga, so I knew he could play. I just had to be on my toes and expect anything that was coming to me.”

Mmoh enters in strong form after clinching his second ATP Challenger Tour title earlier this month in Lexington. He joins Reilly Opelka, who won his opener on Tuesday, as #NextGenATP Americans to reach the second round of qualifying. Mmoh will next face Turkey’s Cem Ilkel next, while Opelka is set to square off against eighth seed Peter Gojowczyk.

Other Americans carrying the flag into the second round include veteran Tim Smyczek, who reached the third round in 2013, as well as Mitchell Krueger, Austin Krajicek, Evan King and Raymond Sarmiento. Krueger rallied for a grueling 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Brayden Schnur, reeling off the last four games of the match from 5-3 down in the decider. Krajicek also fought back from a third-set break deficit, defeating Mohamed Safwat 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4) after two hours and 22 minutes.

“I’m not really sure how I pulled that out,” said Tampa, Florida native Krajicek. “I just found a way. “He played lights out at first and I just tried to stay in it and make some first serves. Getting the break in the third made the difference and I was able to close it out from there. It could have gone either way. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment. It was just great to pull a match out like that today.”

Making his return to the US Open after a four-year hiatus, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe got off to a winning start with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Aldin Setkic. World No. 106 Stebe is close to becoming one of the biggest movers to the Top 100 this year, having started the season at No. 471.

Meanwhile, four other #NextGenATP stars joined Mmoh as winners on Day Two, with Stefanos Tsitsipas rallying past Di Wu 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, Matteo Berrettini posting a 6-2, 7-6(0) victory over Marcelo Arevalo, Duckhee Lee downing Gerald Melzer 6-4, 6-3 and Christian Garin securing a 6-3, 6-4 win over Marcos Giron under the lights. Garin and 21-year-old Nicolas Jarry lead the Chilean contingent in qualifying.

Jarry claimed five of 10 break chances to defeat Calvin Hemery 7-5, 6-3 in 75 minutes. The Santiago native is up to a career-high No. 130 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in his comeback from a broken wrist. He enters New York with considerable momentum at his back after picking up his first ATP Challenger Tour title last month in Medellin, Colombia.

“It’s amazing,” Jarry told ATPWorldTour.com. “The atmosphere here in New York is just amazing. There’s so much energy. We’ve rented an apartment in Manhattan and to go downstairs in the evening and hear all the typical New York noises and the taxis is pretty cool. I’m happy to win my first match here.”

All second round matches will be contested on Thursday, with coveted spots in Friday’s final round on the line. Matches to watch include fourth seed Sergiy Stakhovsky facing 17-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, an all-#NextGenATP clash between Tsitsipas and Berrettini, and Jarry battling Darian King of Barbados. Denis Shapovalov, Leonardo Mayer, Casper Ruud and Nicolas Mahut are other big names still in contention.

“The Next Generation Of Men’s Tennis Has Arrived” headlines Vogue, presenting a special feature on two of tennis’ most exciting young players, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, on the eve of the US Open.

Alongside a photograph taken together at Wimbledon, Zverev and Thiem are interviewed about their nature as tennis players and their interests away from the court.

“It was a sight long anticipated but rarely seen: Rafael Nadal, the greatest clay-court player in history, in the middle of one of his best-ever seasons, getting soundly beaten—not by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, or Stan Wawrinka, but by a young player, Dominic Thiem. At the Italian Open in May, the Austrian drove Nadal into the backcourt corners with huge cuts and heavy topspin, winning in straight sets. Thiem was then knocked out by Djokovic in the semifinal—order restored. Until another young player, a 20-year-old German named Alexander Zverev, shocked Djokovic in the final. Was a generational shift coming, at long last, to men’s tennis?

“It so happens Zverev (nicknamed “Sa­scha”) and Thiem, 23, are good friends. They share a language, have been known to road-trip between tournaments, and are prone to chummy posts on social media. So far Thiem has dominated their head-to-head record, 4–1, but every match has been tight, and the potential for a rivalry between them is tantalizing (Zverev is currently ranked 7th in the world, and Thiem is 8th). Like Federer and Nadal, Zverev and Thiem have contrasting styles. Zverev’s game is built on poise and balance, his forehand sweet and flat, while Thiem throws his body into every shot.”

Read the full article at Vogue.com