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Key events
And Nakashima breaks too – he’s hitting it hard off both wings and I wonder if he’s in the process of finding a new level. The first few times I watched him, I thought he had a bit of something and, real talk, I thought he’d be better by now than he is. But I really like what I’m seeing from him and, as we know, progress isn’t always linear.
It’s a good start for Medvedev, Gorzy – who saved five match points in round one – tamely ceding serve to 15.
Er, (Joel) Bats. Sky will now only allow one match, so it’s just Medvedev and Nakashima, I’m afraid, with updates form elsewhere. Off we go!
(Vasily) Rats. Sky won’t allow me to watch two matches on my big screen, so I’m dropping Rublev – for now.
The players are out on our various courts. Tennis is imminent.
OK, which matches am I going to watch? Well, I’ll absolutely be on Pegula v Kenin but that’s not away for half an hour so, prior to then, I’m going for Medvedev v Gorzny and Nakashima v Michelsen for sure, then I think, systems permitting, Paolini v Stefanini and Merida v Rublev.
The men’s competition could be a procession – if Carlos Alcaraz is ready, it’s hard to see anyone beating him, and the way he handled Roman Safiulin, a proper first-round test, was encouraging. Otherwise, though, I’m really excited to see how Rafael Jodar does and, despite myself, I wonder if Felix Auger-Aliassime might force himself over the hump – but only if Alcaraz isn’t fit enough to go the distance.
Anyway, back to the original question, the women’s competition is wide open and – unlike in the last decade and the early part of this, not because no one is that good but because loads of players are. The two I’d love to see do it are Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk, but I quite fancy Amanda Anisimova with the ball sitting up for her to punish. She’s seeded to face Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round and Muchova in the quarters; tasty.
So who on earth is going to win these singles titles? Er, excuse while I interrupt myself, but I’ve just seen Arthur Fery, interviewed after his defeat to Lorenzo Musetti, confide that “I was a bit short today”; indeed. The Times actually ran a piece about this last week; it’s now 22 years since a man under 6”0 won a major – and that was Gaston Gaudio, on clay. And, as I’ve said before, I was once asked to approach an agent on behalf of a brilliant youngster and the first question that came back was … how tall is he?
Preamble
Word up and welcome to the US Open 2026 – day four!
And, as you might expect, it’s yet another belter, so much so and – thanks in part to the rain – so, so sprawling, that’s it hard to know where discussion of it can possibly begin.
Early doors, we’ve got Daniil Medvedev opening up on Armstrong and, as a former champ, he’ll be eyeing what looks suspiciously like a power vacuum in the men’s competition. Elsewhere, meanwhile, we have a potential epic, the surging Brandon Nakashima – in Cincinatti last month, he reached the last four, beat Medvedev and Taylor Fritz en route – against Alex Michelsen.
Jasmine Paolini while, on Ashe, Jessica Pegula – seeking to become world no 1 and win her first major – faces Sofia Kenin, who has already achieved that second dream, in what might develop into a classic. Then, as the afternoon unfolds, we’ve Ben Shelton against Hubie Hurkacz and a match-up that is, indisputably, the stylist’s pick of the day, as Marta Kostyuk faces Sloane Stephens.
That is not even close to it. Emma Navarro, back in among it, meets Caty NcNally; Iva Jovic – who is nearing readiness for contention – resumes level at 4-4 with Magdalena Frech; Rafael Jodar returns; so too does Stefanos Tsitsipas, twice a grand slam finalist, whose first-round win over Arthur Fils was his best in a long while; and Katie Boulter must deal with the brilliant Karolina Muchová.
And if, to that, we add Jan Choinski, Jacob Fearnley, Francesca Jones and Toby Samuel – who takes on Jiri Lehecka – along with Alexander Bublik, Jelena Ostapenko, Mario Berrettini, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev – we have a day of action that feels unparalleled, but for the fact we’ll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
Play: 11am local, 4pm BST
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