Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev storm into quarters

NEW YORK, Sep 8: Second seed Dominic Thiem edged a first-set tiebreak before turning up the heat to romp into the US Open quarter-finals with a resounding 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Canadian youngster Felix Augur-Aliassime at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.

Top seed Novak Djokovic's disqualification on Sunday for striking a line judge with a ball has left Thiem as one of the favourites and the Austrian gave a composed performance to reach the last eight in New York for the second time in his career.

He was helped in his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title by a below-par performance from the talented Augur-Aliassime, who beat Andy Murray in round two but was well off the pace against Thiem, making 51 unforced errors versus the second seed's 24.

"The first set was really important," Thiem said in an on-court interview. "I was really nervous before the match.

"I had a chance to serve for the first set, missed it pretty poorly but then the tiebreak was really good. I started to miss less and less."

Thiem won 74% of his first serve points and was near flawless at the net, while also sending down 22 winners as he wrapped up the contest in a shade over two hours.

Next up for the 26-year-old is a quarter-final clash with Australian youngster Alex de Minaur, who he has beaten in both of their previous meetings, including in the opening round at Flushing Meadows three years ago.

Minaur tamed Canada's Vasek Pospisil 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-2 to ease into his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Daniil Medvedev stormed into the US Open quarter-finals with a dominant 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 win over a listless Frances Tiafoe.

The Russian third seed, who lost an epic five-set final to Rafa Nadal at Flushing Meadows last year, barely broke a sweat in the evening match as American Tiafoe's resistance crumbled after going down a break in the second set.

With top seed Novak Djokovic disqualified on Sunday for hitting a ball into a line judge, Medvedev is now backed to win his first Grand Slam title in New York.

He will face 10th seed and fellow Russian Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-finals. Agencies