20:10
First set: *Raducanu 0-1 Rogers (*denotes server)
Raducanu won the toss and will serve first. I throughly researched this match by going outside for a coffee earlier and can report that it’s a beautiful day in New York: one of the three a year where it’s not oppressively hot or horrifyingly cold.
Rogers has 10 years on her opponent but matches the younger woman for energy in the opening game – and has a break point that Raducanu saves with a scorching forehand. Rogers comes back with a nice angled forehand of her own to get another break at deuce but this time an unforced error keeps Raducanu in the game. But a few loose shots from the Briton hands the break to her opponent.
20:00
The winner of this match will face the No11 seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals. She beat the No 7 seed Iga Świątek earlier today thanks, in part, to an epic first set tiebreak, which she won 14-12.
The players are now on court and we’ll be starting the match in the next few minutes.
19:57
Much has been written about Raducanu and no doubt that will continue to be the case for the immediate future (the New York Times led its preview of this match on the Briton rather than the American Rogers today) but Rogers is a very dangerous player. Although she’s ranked in the 40s she has a good record in grand slams this year – she reached the fourth round in Melbourne, the third round at Wimbledon and was a quarter-finalist here last year, where she lost to the eventual champion, Naomi Osaka. And she hasn’t been too bad this year either: she beat the world No1, Ash Barty in the last round. Here’s how she did it:
19:46
Alexander Zverev has just beaten Jannik Sinner in straight sets (although Sinner really should have won the third set tiebreak) so it’s Raducanu v Rogers next on Arthur Ashe. The players should be on court shortly…
19:40
Tom will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Tumaini Carayol on the rise of teenagers at this year’s tournament:
As Leylah Annie Fernandez basked in the joy of her improbable third round comeback win over Naomi Osaka earlier last week, she was asked on the court in her post-match interview at what point she truly believed that she could topple such a champion. Her response was immediate. “From the very beginning,” Fernandez said. The crowd reacted with a surprised murmur. “Right before the match, I knew I was able to win.”
Against Osaka, Fernandez had trailed 7-5, 6-5 as the third seed served for a straight-sets win. Two days later, Angelique Kerber led their contest and appeared to have taken the upper hand in a tight tussle. Both times that Fernandez found herself at the cliff edge, she elevated her level and recovered her footing to win.
Her win on Sunday against Kerber, who had played well herself, was even more impressive. After falling down a set and a break, Fernandez snatched control of the match by exhibiting all of the various qualities that define her game: her athleticism, her forehand’s sublime racquet head speed, her court sense and the return of serve that ravaged Kerber throughout.
Not long after Fernandez had reached her maiden quarter-final in a major, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain followed. Alcaraz had already pulled off a stunning upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas, the third seed, by complementing his nuclear groundstrokes with delicate drop shots and athleticism.
You can read the full story below: