Sealed with an ace. Sam Querrey relied on his biggest weapon to secure his place in the Round of 16 at the US Open on Friday, overcoming Radu Albot 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

The American launched 49 winners, including 19 aces, to prevail after two hours and seven minutes. He will feature in the second week at his home Grand Slam for the first time since 2010, matching his best result.

Albot, who was appearing in his first Grand Slam third round, streaked to an early lead with a break for the opening set at 6-4. But Querrey’s response was quick and swift, breaking immediately to open the second and once more in the third and fourth sets. The 29 year old notched just his second victory from a set down at the US Open and first since 2012 (d. Lu in four).

“The shadows were really tough the first 90 minutes,” Querrey said. “That made things a little tricky to see the ball and really settle in. Once I broke him in the first game of the fourth, I played a lot better from there. It was a fun four-setter. I think it was good to face a little adversity there. Had to battle in a couple service games in the fourth set. Overall I felt pretty good.”

It marks the third straight year in which an American has reached the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows, following successful fortnights by John Isner and Donald Young in 2015 and Jack Sock in 2016.

“I feel like I always had this level, but it’s just better now,” Querrey added. “All around, I’m recognizing the opportunities to move forward. My backhand is definitely better. I feel like my return is a lot better. I feel like my intangibles are a little better. I just feel like every part of my game is a little more complete now.”

Querrey will vie for his 50th Grand Slam match win when he faces Mischa Zverev next. The big-hitting California native is rolling through the second half of the season, playing the best tennis of his career behind a 15-3 record since the start of Wimbledon. A semi-finalist at the All England Club and champion at the ATP World Tour 250 in Los Cabos, Querrey is in position to make a charge in the Emirates ATP Race To London. He is currently in 10th position.

Zverev denied an all-U.S. encounter in the fourth round, defeating top American John Isner 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the nightcap on Friday. The German struck 34 winners and just seven unforced errors to reach the fourth round in New York for the first time. He first arrived at the US Open in 2006 and 11 years later, Zverev will make his debut in the second week.

The 30 year old had spent six hours, 17 minutes on court in his first two matches, claiming back-to-back five-set marathons. His third-round victory was far more efficient. The German executed his aggressive serve-and-volley gameplan perfectly on a brisk Friday evening in New York. Zverev would close out the first set in 30 minutes after capturing a break in the ninth game and after conceding a break for 4-3 in the second, Isner received a medical timeout for treatment on his neck.

Zverev was not rattled by the stoppage in play, earning the shot of the match with a stunning reflex volley to deny a blasted Isner mid-court forehand. The ball landed smack on the line. Two games later, a second serve return winner gave him a two-set lead. Isner had his chances in the third set, earning two break points at 3-all with a backhand pass, but Zverev turned aside both and would eventually advance in the ensuing tie-break.

Dutchmen Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop are celebrating a huge first-round boilover in the men’s doubles at the US Open after springing the upset over in-form French duo, No. 3 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-4. Herbert and Mahut had won back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles leading in, at the Coupe Rogers and Western & Southern Open, but were no match for the unseeded pair.

There was better news for another all-French pairing, with Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin upsetting second seeds and Wimbledon champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. The 2014 Roland Garros champions prevailed 6-3, 7-6(2) over the Polish-Brazilian team to reach the third round.

They will face either #NextGenATP Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev or Indians Leander Paes and Purav Raja. Khachanov and Rublev defeated Australian-Pakistani duo Sam Groth and  Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-4, while Paes and Raja eased past Serbs Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-3.

There was a win too for 2015 Australian Open champions Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini. The Italians beat 10th seeds Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round. Youth won out over experience when #NextGenATP Americans Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka took down Marcin Matkowski and Max Mirnyi 7-6(5), 6-4 in a first-round clash.

Spanish No. 11 seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez avoided the joining the seeded casualties as they eased past German-Indian pair Andre Begemann and Divij Sharan 6-4, 6-4. Experienced Dutch-Romanian pair Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau also survived. The No. 12 seeds eked out a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3 victory over Bosnian-Serbian duo Damir Dzumhur and Dusan Lajovic.

Kevin Anderson powered into the US Open fourth round on Friday as he defeated Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows.

The South African didn’t always find his best tennis, but urged himself on as he determinedly chipped away at Coric to prevail in one hour and 49 minutes. Coric had been looking to build on the second-round upset win he had recorded over fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.  

Anderson will look to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in New York when he faces Paolo Lorenzi on Sunday. The South African made his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Flushing Meadows two years ago with back-to-back wins over Dominic Thiem and Andy Murray (l. to Wawrinka).

Lorenzi came through an all-Italian clash with Thomas Fabbiano 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to reach a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time at the age of 35.

The No. 40-ranked Lorenzi is more at home on a clay court that a hard court, highlighted this year by runs to the finals in Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos) and Umag (l. to Rublev). But the right-hander has seen off Joao Sousa, Gilles Muller and now Fabbiano to make his mark at the US Open.

If Lorenzi is to take his fairytale run further, though, he will need to overcome a 0-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Anderson.

The Cinderella run for #NextGenATP star Denis Shapovalov continues. Competing in just his sixth tour-level main draw, the Canadian teen advanced to the Round of 16 at the US Open on Friday.

Shapovalov is the youngest player to reach the US Open fourth round since Michael Chang in 1989 and youngest in a Grand Slam Round of 16 since Marat Safin at Roland Garros in 1998. He will seek his first major quarter-final when he faces Pablo Carreno Busta next, after advancing when Kyle Edmund retired due to injury at 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0.

Semi-finalist at the Coupe Rogers just three weeks ago, behind victories over Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, the 18 year old is thriving once again against elite competition. Carreno Busta will be Shapovalov’s second Top 20 opponent this week, having secured a straight-sets victory over eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.

“The month of August has been absolutely life-changing for me, and yeah, I’m actually very thankful for my team for helping me stay humble and just prepare for every match, like it’s another match,” Shapovalov said. “But I feel like after the US Open, I’m going to have a little bit of time to take it all in, everything that’s been happening to me. I’m playing great tennis and I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.”

The Canadian’s win also makes him the first qualifier to advance to the fourth round in New York since Gilles Muller streaked to the quarter-finals in 2008. Shapovalov is projected to rise to the doorstep of the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and has cemented himself as one of the threats to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, assured of a Top 4 standing in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan following the US Open.

“I did have that confidence that I can make it this far, but to be honest, this whole season has been going really quickly for me,” Shapovalov added. “My goal was to be inside the 150 by the end of the year when I had started and now Top 50 seems doable.”

Edmund concludes his US Open following straight-set wins over Robin Haase and Steve Johnson. Last week at the Winston-Salem Open, he won six matches to reach the semi-finals as a qualifier.

“I guess it’s an upper thoracic back problem,” Edmund explained. “It just got very sore and very tight and almost locked up a bit. I didn’t feel like I could rotate properly. It’s just obviously hitting in tennis, you need a good rotation. It just seized up very quickly. It was pretty sore now just coming off the court. Now everything has cooled down so it’s very stiff now.” 

The Canadian’s win also makes him the first qualifier to advance to the fourth round in New York since Gilles Muller streaked to the quarter-finals in 2008. Shapovalov is projected to rise to the doorstep of the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and has cemented himself as one of the threats to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, assured of a Top 4 standing in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan following the US Open.

Earlier in the day, Carreno Busta rolled into the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Nicolas Mahut. The 12th seed is flying under the radar as he continues to register his best result at the final Grand Slam of the year.

Carreno Busta has not dropped a set thus far, turning in convincing victories over qualifier Evan King, qualifier Cameron Norrie and qualifier Mahut. In a remarkable twist of fate, he will face yet another qualifier in the fourth round: Shapovalov. It marks the first time in the Open Era that a player has squared off against four qualifiers at a Grand Slam.

“I am really happy because I reached the second week here,” said Carreno Busta. “It is always a positive thing and this year it has been one of the objectives that me and my team have looked at. To do big things at important tournaments means that your level is rising. It is the truth that I have faced three qualifiers but it has been very tough. I am just concentrated on my game.”

Carreno Busta fired 32 winners and converted six of 10 break chances to claim victory after one hour and 48 minutes. The Spaniard found great success in coming forward, notching 17 of 21 points when charging the net. After falling behind two-sets-to-love, Mahut seized an initial break to open the third, but Carreno Busta reeled off six of the last seven games to emerge victorious.

Imagine you go for a casual hit with your friends in Central Park on a sunny afternoon in New York, look across to the adjacent court and there is Roger Federer, plain as day, getting in a practice session of his own on a non-match day at the US Open.

That was the unique experience for lucky members of the public on Wednesday in the Big Apple, as Federer decided to spare himself a trip out to Flushing Meadows and take advantage of the US Open court in Central Park, following advice from Eric Butorac.

“I think we were looking for if there was any place at all in the city to play tennis at,” Federer explained to the media on Thursday, following his five-set win over Mikhail Youzhny in the second round. “Then I think we spoke to Eric Butorac of the tournament, spoke to coaches, [they] maybe gave an idea at Central Park, apparently they have a US Open court. I was like, ‘Yeah, anything that doesn’t make me drive very long.’

When in Central Park ??‍♂ pic.twitter.com/JOiFYETPqy

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) August 31, 2017

“I really liked the idea of playing in Central Park for the first time. We tried it out. It was perfect. I was really happy. It was really a totally different experience in the sense that when I finished practice, that was fun. If only all practices were like this. I really enjoyed myself.”

Away from the regimented style of practice sessions onsite, Federer revelled in the relaxed nature of the public courts and took time after practice to mingle with recreational players from other courts, who stopped to watch.

“I don’t do it nearly enough because the problem is we always go out, there’s always something to improve. If you don’t go out and improve something, you feel like it’s a waste.

“Sometimes I think having a fun practice session, being in a totally different surrounding like yesterday, where all 20 courts just stopped playing, came to watch you play. I don’t know. It was kind of really different. People were just happy to see you there, meet you, talk to you, maybe get a photo. They didn’t care about autographs.

“It was a different crowd. I really enjoyed that. Just to be in that environment for a change. I’ve seen the routine of normal practice sessions and matches, press, all the things we do in a row, it’s always the same. I think this was very refreshing. I hope I can do these things a bit more often.”

Federer is set to resume his US Open campaign on Saturday when he faces Feliciano Lopez in the third round. 

DAY FIVE HIGHLIGHTS

• Third round action on Friday is led by No. 5 seed and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, No. 10 seed John Isner, No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille and No. 17 seed Sam Querrey, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in July. Of the 16 players remaining in the bottom half of the draw, only Cilic and Querrey have advanced to the semi-finals or better in a Grand Slam tournament. There are also four qualifiers in the third round at the US Open for the first time since 1999. The last qualifier to reach the 4R or better in Flushing Meadows was Gilles Muller, who advanced to the quarter-finals in 2008.

• In the opening match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, #NextGenATP Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov takes on Kyle Edmund of Great Britain for the third time this season (tied 1-1). Both players are the No. 2 player from their respective country. Edmund won the first meeting in a 1R Davis Cup tie in Ottawa and Shapovalov prevailed in three sets on June 19 in the 1R at the Queen’s Club in London. The 18-year-old Shapovalov is trying to become the youngest player to reach the 4R at the US Open since Michael Chang (17) in 1989. Edmund is looking to advance to the 4R at the US Open for the second year in a row.

• In the evening match, No. 23 Mischa Zverev and Isner square off for the fifth time (tied 2-2). Isner is 0-4 vs. the Zverev brothers this season, losing twice to Mischa and to Alexander. The 32-year-old Isner is appearing in the third round in Flushing Meadows for the ninth straight year (10th overall) and he is 3-6 in 3R matches. His best Grand Slam result is the QFs here in 2011. Isner is 15-3 this summer, winning titles in Newport and Atlanta. Zverev is attempting to reach his second Grand Slam 4th Round. He was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in January.

• On Louis Armstrong, qualifier Nicolas Mahut and Carreno Busta meet for the first time. Mahut is looking to advance to the 4th Round at the US Open for the first time in his 12th main draw appearance. Carreno Busta reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in June, his best career Grand Slam result. In the following match, Querrey and Radu Albot of Moldova battle for the first time. Querrey is 14-3 since the beginning of Wimbledon and he’s looking to advance to the 4th Round at the US Open for the first time since 2010.

• On Grandstand, No. 29 seed Diego Schwartzman plays Cilic, who is playing his first tournament since falling in the Wimbledon final on July 16. He was sidelined during the hard court circuit with an adductor injury. Schwartzman is 1-13 lifetime against Top 10 opponents and he’s trying to reach his first 4th Round in a Grand Slam event. In the next match on, No. 28 seed Kevin Anderson brings a 2-0 record against #NextGenATP Croat Borna Coric, who is aiming to reach his first 4th Round in a Grand Slam tournament.

• On Court 17, Italians Thomas Fabbiano and Paolo Lorenzi battle it out with the winner getting to the 4th Round in a Slam for the first time. In the next match on, last year’s US Open quarter-finalist Pouille takes on qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan for the second time. Pouille won here in four sets in the 1R one year ago.