Iranian and international tennis, updated every morning
On September 11, 1999, a 17-year-old Serena Williams beat world No 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6 at Flushing Meadows to win her first Grand Slam title. She became the first member of the Williams family to lift a major trophy. Two years earlier, Venus Williams had said her biggest rival would be her younger sister.
Craig Tiley left the Australian Open this summer to take the US Open CEO job, joining the grand slam that generates more revenue than any other. Within his first few weeks in charge he handed the players record prize money. Tennis Majors frames the question of whether the event wants to be known as the best or simply the richest.
A Tennis Majors piece argues that tennis, though seen mainly as an individual sport, offers lessons that reach well beyond the court. Discipline, consistency, preparation, recovery and mental resilience matter both in the sport and in the modern workplace. Employers are looking for ways to improve employee engagement, productivity and retention.
On September 10, 1988, Steffi Graf beat Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the US Open final to become the third woman to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam, after Margaret Court in 1970 and Maureen Connolly in 1953. Across the four majors she won that season, the German lost only two sets in 28 matches.
Top seed Alexander Zverev beat Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday night in New York, finishing the job in two hours and 17 minutes. It puts the German into the US Open semifinals for the first time since 2021. The victory was his 51st of the season and his 13th Grand Slam semifinal.
Karen Khachanov, unseeded and ranked No. 50, was leading Belgium's No. 28 seed Alexander Blockx 6-2, 7-5, 3-2 in the US Open quarterfinals when Blockx retired. Blockx was taped at the left thigh and right ankle and had earlier taken a medical timeout for his back. The result puts Khachanov into a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in three years.
Elena Rybakina will rise to world No. 1 on Monday for the first time in her career. The Kazakh secured it by beating Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in New York on Wednesday to reach her first US Open semifinal. The points gained put her out of reach of Aryna Sabalenka.
Coco Gauff, the American No. 4 seed, was twice a point from defeat in the second-set tie-break but won ten of the last twelve games to beat Russian No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Wednesday evening in New York. It is her first US Open semifinal since she won the title in 2023. She spoke on court afterwards in an interview with Chris Eubanks.
Ben Shelton, the American No. 8 seed, defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) in the US Open quarterfinals. The match ended in the early hours of Wednesday past 3am, the latest finish in the tournament's history. Shelton closed out the biggest win of his career with an ace.
Eighth seed Ben Shelton defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) in the US Open quarter-finals, sealing the deciding tie-break 10-7 after more than four and a quarter hours. The match produced the latest finish in the tournament's history. The loss ended Alcaraz's 25-0 record after winning the first set at this event and an 18-match Grand Slam winning streak.
Jessica Pegula, the American No. 3 seed, beat compatriot Emma Navarro, the No. 26 seed, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night in New York to reach the US Open semifinals for a third year running. She dropped the opening set and went a break down in the third, but neither setback proved costly. Speaking on court afterwards, she described the physical, humid conditions, and the win sets up a third consecutive US Open meeting with Sabalenka.
On September 9, 1969, Rod Laver beat Tony Roche in the US Open final 7-9, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to claim a fourth straight major title in the same year. Laver had already won the Grand Slam as an amateur in 1962, though many experts then argued the absence of the world's best players clouded that feat.
Frances Tiafoe, the No. 11 seed, came from two sets and a break down to beat compatriot Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) at the US Open. Tiafoe cut short his own celebration and went to the net to hold up his beaten opponent, in what became one of the lasting images of the 2026 season.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus beat Czech sixth seed Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (7) on Tuesday evening in New York to reach the US Open semifinals for a sixth straight year. The Belarusian believed she had lost the third set before closing it out with an ace on a second serve. Noskova struck 46 winners to Sabalenka's 42.
Aryna Sabalenka's 99 weeks at world No. 1 could end on Tuesday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium, yet the player most likely to take the ranking from her does not play until the following day. Elena Rybakina will finish this US Open as world No. 1 unless Zheng Qinwen beats her in Wednesday's quarterfinal and Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula or Coco Gauff then goes on to win the title.
Top seed Alexander Zverev defeated Italian No. 21 seed Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the US Open fourth round to reach the quarterfinals. It was the German's 50th win of the season. The fourth round, which ran from Monday night into Tuesday, completed a last eight that includes the first Belgian man to reach that stage in New York.
Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands beat France's Arthur Gea 3-6, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the fourth round of the US Open on Monday evening in New York. The match lasted 5 hours and 13 minutes, the fourth longest in US Open history. Gea, a lucky loser, was one point from becoming the first lucky loser to reach a Grand Slam men's quarterfinal.
On September 8, 2002, Pete Sampras capped a difficult season by winning the title at Flushing Meadows, something many believed was beyond him by then. Ranked only 17th in the world, he defeated long-time rival Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the final. The win came twelve years after he had previously beaten Agassi at the US Open.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff defeated 14th seed and compatriot Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round on Monday night in New York. Gauff was broken in the opening game before reeling off six games in a row against the 18-year-old. It is her first US Open quarterfinal since she won the title in 2023, and she next faces Russian fifth seed Mirra Andreeva.
Elena Rybakina, the No. 2 seed from Kazakhstan, defeated Japan's No. 13 seed Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4 on Monday evening in New York to reach her first US Open quarterfinal. She struck 29 winners to Osaka's nine and held all nine of her service games. One more win would take her to world No. 1.
Qinwen Zheng, a qualifier from China, beat Poland's No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3 on Monday evening to reach the US Open quarterfinals. Ranked No. 121, she recovered in the opening set for the second match running, a day after doing the same against Madison Keys. Zheng is the first qualifier to make the last eight in New York since Emma Raducanu in 2021.
Fifth seed Mirra Andreeva lost the opening set but recovered to beat compatriot Anastasia Potapova, the No. 24 seed, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday evening to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the first time. At 19, she is into a fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal.
On September 7, 1953, in New York, Maureen Connolly beat Doris Hart 6-2, 6-4 to win the US National Championships. It was the third time that year she had defeated Hart in a major final. The win made her the first woman in tennis history to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam, something achieved before only by Donald Budge in the men's game in 1938.
Ben Shelton, the American No. 8 seed, beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe on Sunday night to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2023. He did not face a single break point in the match. Shelton struck 12 aces to his opponent's two and landed 72% of first serves against 52%.
Third seed Jessica Pegula beat Romania's No. 16 seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday night at the US Open. No. 26 seed Emma Navarro also advanced past Russia's No. 21 seed Anna Kalinskaya, setting up an all-American quarterfinal. The section of the women's singles draw that lost its two highest seeds in the third round is now entirely American.
No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe defeated No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (6) in New York to return to the US Open quarterfinals. Tiafoe had won only one of their previous seven meetings. He now faces fellow American Alex Michelsen, who has yet to drop a set at the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, beat American No. 20 seed Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday evening in New York to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth time. The defending champion had lost four and a half months of the season to a right wrist injury.
Linda Noskova beat Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 on Sunday evening to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the first time. She had served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and held two match points before dropping the set, then took the decider. Next she faces World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed and two-time defending champion, who defeated American Taylor Townsend.
World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to reach the US Open quarterfinals for a sixth straight year. Neither player held serve in the opening set, and Sabalenka also recovered an early break in the second. The two-time defending champion has not lost a match at Flushing Meadows since the 2023 final.
Four or five years ago, Kosuke Owaki of Japan contacted Stefanos Tsitsipas because his son Yunosuke wanted to play with a one-handed backhand and needed someone to tell him it was allowed. Tsitsipas has mentored the boy ever since. He brought it up unprompted on court at Flushing Meadows on Friday night, in the middle of an answer about his own game that carried him to the US Open fourth round.
Learner Tien came from two sets to one down on Sunday night to beat Jakub Mensik 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 and complete the men's fourth-round line-up. At 20, he is the youngest American man to reach that stage at the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2002, and he is now 5-0 in five-set matches. Tien thanked the fans who had stayed to see the finish.
On September 6, 1975, a 20-year-old Chris Evert won the US Open for the first time, having lost in the semi-finals four years in a row. In the final she avenged her 1974 semi-final defeat to Evonne Goolagong. Evert benefited from the tournament's recent switch from grass to clay.
Elena Rybakina defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-6 (6), 6-3 on Sunday night for her 44th win of the season. She had to survive a first-set tiebreak in which the Ukrainian held a set point. The result completed the women's fourth round line-up, with Rybakina facing Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff meeting Iva Jovic.
Tennis Majors revisits the question of whether winning a title just before a Grand Slam can be a poisoned chalice. In the summer of 1989, Brad Gilbert followed a runner-up finish in Washington with titles in Stratton Mountain and Livingstone before arriving in Cincinnati full of confidence. There he beat a young Pete Sampras in the last 16, Michael Chang in the quarter-finals and Boris Becker in the semi-finals, and also got past Stefan Edberg.
Alexander Blockx, 21 and playing his first US Open main draw, beat No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. It is the Belgian's first appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Cobolli had dropped the opening set in each of his first two matches and won both, then lost after taking the first set for the first time in the fortnight.
Taylor Fritz, who had dropped just 11 games on his way to the third round, led Francisco Cerundolo by two sets and a break before falling 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday night, the first big upset of the round in the men's draw. The No. 24 seed from Argentina had faced 0-40 at 3-4 in the deciding set. Cerundolo joins compatriot Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the last 16.
Madison Keys led 5-0 in the deciding set of her US Open third round match, served for the win twice and held a match point, but fell 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to Zheng Qinwen. Zheng, a former Grand Slam finalist now ranked No. 121 and playing as a qualifier, took the last seven games to reach the fourth round. She next faces Iga Swiatek, the No. 8 seed and the 2022 champion.
Amanda Anisimova, a finalist at the US Open twelve months ago, was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by Anastasia Potapova in the third round on Saturday evening, losing 1,170 ranking points and her place in the top 10. Potapova, the No. 24 seed, reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time, the third fourth round of her career.
On September 5, 1996, in the US Open quarter-finals, Pete Sampras beat Alex Corretja 7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 after throwing up on court and saving a match point in the fifth-set tie-break. The year had been a difficult one for the Californian, whose coach Tim Gullikson died of brain cancer in May. He had arrived in New York without a Grand Slam title that season for the first time since 1992.
Ben Shelton defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the first time since 2023. The match ended at 2:15am on Saturday, the latest finish of his career, and came after a three-hour wait to get on court. Shelton failed to serve out the second set on two occasions and later described that performance as unacceptable, adding that the anger had helped him.
