Coco Gauff revealed in her post-match press conference Sunday at the US Open that the trash talk has begun between men’s quarter-final opponents Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.

“After my match, Ben and Frances were in the cooldown area, or warmup area, and it was really just cool to see us all there,” Gauff said. “Obviously the conversation, they already started the trash talk. I’m indifferent who wins, but I did say that Frances is a little bit upset because I said Ben had the better outfit than him.”

Gauff, who is also in the quarter-finals, is friends with several American players. She admitted she gave Tiafoe an earful about his kit.

“Frances told me at the French Open that he had something crazy planned for the US Open,” Gauff said. “I was like, ‘You’re wearing confetti.’ I said Carlos [Alcaraz] looked better. He’s going to hate this. Love you, Frances.” 

According to Shelton, the guys have bantered about their outfits, too.

“There’s not a time that he walks by me in the locker room and doesn’t say something about, ‘Man, I’m looking way better than you in this sleeveless shirt. You’ve got to work on those shoulders, buddy,’” Shelton said of Tiafoe.

A 2022 US Open semi-finalist, Tiafoe shed light on the trash talk they have started regarding their tennis rather than their fashion. The clash will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Ben has wanted to play me at the Open for a long time. So he’s going to be super excited. He’s going to come out with a lot of energy,” Tiafoe said. “I’m just going to have to tame him down, try to be the vet and get the win. It’s going to be good. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, I think great representation for people of colour, right? Two people of colour playing in the quarter-finals, huge match on Arthur Ashe. It’s a pretty monumental moment.”

Gauff is thrilled to have so many Americans still competing in the season’s final major. There are three American men in the last eight of the US Open for the first time since 2005 and there will be at least two women from the home country in the quarter-finals, too.

“It’s really great. I was so happy. Obviously I know Tommy [Paul] really well, too. But I was really happy for Ben’s win,” Gauff said. “Especially they played each other in Australia, so it’s nice to just see the competitiveness between the countrymen and us all doing well.

“With Ben and Frances winning [that] guarantees a person in the semi. With Jess [Jessica Pegula] and Maddie [Madison Keys] playing, it guarantees a person in the quarters. It’s just really exciting tennis for America. I hope that the fans are excited, are as happy with it.”

Taylor Fritz continued the American charge at the US Open Sunday night with his fourth consecutive straight-sets win to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open.

The ninth seed defeated #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last eight in New York for the first time. With his win, three American men (also Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe) have made the last eight at the tournament for the first time since 2005.

“I’m really happy. I feel like from the ground I’ve been playing good tennis all week. Then I feel like in the second and third sets today, [my] serve started coming together. I feel like how I closed out the match, the last two sets, I feel like my serve started feeling the best it’s felt,” Fritz said. “Just in time, I feel like everything’s coming together.”

One year ago, Fritz suffered a heartbreaking first-round exit at Flushing Meadows to then-World No. 303 Brandon Holt, which was documented on hit Netflix docuseries Break Point. Now he will play 23-time major winner Novak Djokovic for a place in the semi-finals after the Serbian defeated Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo.

“Novak’s Novak. It’s tough,” Fritz said. “I said it on court, he’s gotten me seven times. There’s no one on Tour that has any kind of a record like that against me, so I’m hoping one of these times I’ve got to get him. US Open quarters would be a pretty good time to get him.” 

Fritz has shown no residual effects from his 2022 loss to Holt. The American No. 1 has not lost a set through four matches and has lost just one service game, which came against Stricker inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

There was not much difference between Fritz and Stricker, a 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round. Both men dominated with their first serve and tried to dictate play. The home favourite won 83 per cent of his first-serve points and the Swiss 82 per cent.

But Fritz, who hit 17 aces, was more opportunistic throughout the match, which proved key. The six-time ATP Tour titlist converted three of his four break points while his lefty opponent managed to convert just one of four.

Fritz took a medical timeout after the second set to receive treatment on his feet. On the first changeover of the set, Stricker received treatment on his right side. After eight service holds, Fritz leaned into a backhand to secure the critical break and then served out the match.

Novak Djokovic was in no mood for another US Open five-setter Sunday night, snuffing out a spirited challenge from big-hitting Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to reach his 57th Grand Slam quarter-final.

Two days on from his comeback from two sets down to defeat fellow Serbian Laslo Djere in the third round, Djokovic patiently absorbed an onslaught of baseline body blows from Gojo before advancing to his 13th US Open quarter-final in 17 appearances.

”I knew that Borna had a big game, even though we hadn’t faced each other at the tour level,” Djokovic said. “I was watching him play qualifying and also the last couple of rounds of the main draw and I saw that he has big weapons with his serve and forehand and that he moves pretty well for a big guy. One of the keys to the match was to neutralise his serve, try to reduce the number of aces and winners from that shot.”

Gojo, the strapping 6’ 5” 25-year-old former Wake Forest college player, came out swinging for the fences and had an early break in the second set. But his high-risk approach did not deliver the big returns he sought as he was undone by 40 unforced errors, including 15 in the first set alone.

Nothing better illustrated the volatile nature of Gojo’s match play than the third game of the second set, when the 2018 NCAA singles finalist endeavoured to consolidate his first break of serve at 2-0. Gojo saved his first break point with a bone-crushing down-the-line backhand winner that Djokovic didn’t see coming, but then threw in consecutive double faults (his fourth and fifth of that game alone!) to drop serve.

Gojo clubbed 40 winners to Djokovic’s 25, but his matching 40 unforced errors were more than triple that of his opponent’s miserly 12.

Chasing his fourth US Open title and 10th final at Flushing Meadows, Djokovic’s game plan revolved around keeping Gojo on the move, making it more difficult for his opponent to get his feet set to take big cuts at the ball.

The 23-time major champion, who will reclaim No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 11 September for a record-extending 390th week regardless of his ultimate result in New York, will next meet top-ranked American Taylor Fritz, whom he leads 7-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“Taylor has been an established Top 10 player for the past couple of years and he’s been playing some terrific tennis, particularly on home soil in hard-court tournaments here in the States,” Djokovic said. “He’s improved so much over the years. Obviously the matches will only get tougher from here onwards, and I’m ready for the challenge.”

Gojo came into the tournament as the world No. 105 but is up to No. 76 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Alessandro Petrone vividly remembers a rainy day in Sanremo three years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic. Running along the water was a young Matteo Arnaldi.

“He was running on a road along the sea under the rain. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy is amazing. He’s running under the rain in the COVID times,’” Petrone told ATPTour.com. “I think he really has something special, so that’s what gave me the trust in him.”

Petrone has coached Arnaldi since 2021. Now they are enjoying the best week of their partnership, as the 22-year-old is into the fourth round of a major for the first time at the US Open. The Italian will next play top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

“I think Carlos has reached a very high standard of play. So for sure, he will play amazing, he will be very focussed. Of course it’s the second week of the US Open, so it’s not the first round. Maybe sometimes some of the top players at the beginning of the tournament can be not distracted, but more relaxed in some way,” Petrone said. “I think the most important [is how] Matteo will play.”

It has been a breakthrough season for the Sanremo-native, who last year competed in the Next Gen ATP Finals. At the time, he was the No. 134 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Now Arnaldi is No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and climbing.

According to Petrone, a pivotal moment for his charge came at the Mutua Madrid Open. Still yet to crack the world’s Top 100, Arnaldi qualified, defeated Benoit Paire in a final-set tie-break in the first round of the main draw and then stunned Casper Ruud in straight sets in the second round.

“Mentally I think after beating Ruud in Madrid, now he really has the confidence that he can play at this level and beat the top players,” Petrone said. “I think the way he played with Ruud was unbelievable with more than 45 winners. That was an amazing match.”

Arnaldi has continued his progression since then, defeating former Top 10 star Diego Schwartzman in Rome and advancing to his first ATP Tour semi-final in Umag, where he lost to eventual champion Alexei Popyrin in three sets.

“Of course it’s better. We are working and we are trying to improve of course the serve and his forehand. Those are the main aspects where we are working on,” Petrone said. “Also on the return because at this level everyone is serving amazing. So I think these are the main aspects we are working on and he is improving a lot.”

That was apparent in Arnaldi’s third-round victory over British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, the 16th seed and a former major semi-finalist. The Italian converted five of his six break points to triumph in straight sets.

“I think he doesn’t care too much who he is playing,” Petrone said. “He’s very confident in himself and he really likes difficult challenges. He just played one of the best matches in his young career.”

Off the court, Arnaldi almost always has a smile on his face. After he defeated Norrie, the 22-year-old was placed in the US Open’s main interview room and clearly took in the experience.

“He’s always smiling because I think he really enjoys what he’s doing… He really likes the professional player’s tennis life, and that’s why he really enjoys it,” Petrone said. “For him, he doesn’t feel restricted [when he has to] go to the gym, to practice and to do everything. So I think this is the key. He has a lot of passion, a lot of determination on the court, in the physical trainings, in the diet and sleeping.

“His idol is Djokovic and so I think he wants to be as similar as possible to him in these things.”

Arnaldi will try to channel Djokovic on Monday when he plays Alcaraz for the first time.

“I think he just needs to enjoy every moment there. This is something that will help him in the next months and then maybe of course the next years when he will face other top players. So I think he just has to enjoy it,” Petrone said. “Of course, focussing on what he has to do in the tactics and the strategy, we will prepare that tonight. I think the most important thing is that he enjoys the match, he enjoys playing with Carlos, he enjoys playing with all these people in the best stadium in the world. I think from how I know him, I’m sure he will do it.”

Revenge was sweet for Ben Shelton on Sunday at the US Open where the 20-year-old defeated countryman Tommy Paul to become the youngest American man in more than 20 years to reach the quarter-finals in New York.

Shelton lost against Paul in four sets in the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, but ensured history did not repeat itself at the final major of the season. The lefty recovered from squandering a 4-1 lead in the third set to triumph 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

“I learned to be mentally tough,” Shelton said when reflecting on his previous match against Paul. “When I was playing in Australia after a long week I was looking at my box saying ‘My legs are dead, I am tired, I can’t go anymore’. I realised how important it is to believe in myself. That I can go the full way emotionally and physically and now I have that belief here.”

With his two-hour, 50-minute victory, Shelton has become the youngest American to advance to the last eight since a then-20-year-old Andy Roddick in 2002. The 2003 champion Roddick fell in the quarter-final stage that year, but Shelton will be hoping to go at least one step further and reach his maiden slam semi-final when he takes on Frances Tiafoe or Rinky Hijikata on Tuesday.

“Being at home here in front of an American crowd, I have felt the love all week. I played another American today and we had a great battle,” Shelton said. “It is hard to believe I am playing on Arthur Ashe right now with the stands completely full.”

Shelton thundered down a 147-mph missile ace in his previous win against Aslan Karatsev but topped that facing Paul. He smashed two 149 mph serves at 3-1 in the third set to register a new fastest serve of the tournament. Roddick hit an all-time US Open record 152 mph serve in 2004.

After dropping serve in his first service game, the 2022 NCAA champion broke back and recovered from squandering a 4-1 lead in the third set. The 20-year-old played with great intensity to overpower Paul with his destructive weapons, striking 36 winners, including 16 aces, to advance. Shelton flexed his left bicep after sealing victory on his first match point, embracing the New York crowd.

“I think straight adrenaline,” Shelton said on his two 149mph serves. “I think any other atmosphere I wouldn’t be able to get it down and I think my arm might have come off. But it is feeling pretty good right now.”

Shelton is widely regarded as one of the United States’ brightest prospects and is showing why this fortnight, now up 20 spots to No. 27 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He reached a career-high No. 35 in May, but before this week, had not won consecutive tour-level matches since the Australian Open.

The lefty is also aiming to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time. Shelton is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race To Jeddah.

Paul was competing in the fourth round in New York for the first time, having rallied from two sets down for the first time in his career to defeat Roman Safiullin in the second round. The 26-year-old is currently 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, but will be surpassed by Frances Tiafoe if the 25-year-old wins later on Sunday.