Preview / Schedule US Open 2024 Day seven Sunday 1 September with Navarro-Gauff, Ruud-Fritz, Zverev and Sabalenka

Day 7 of the US Open (Sunday, September 1) has some really interesting matches on the schedule, even if the program has been somewhat decimated by some of the surprises of the last few days. We will still see Coco Gauff on the court, among other names in our program.

As always in our previews, we’ll start with the biggest court, Arthur Ashe, and then work our way down to the smaller courts. The closer we get to the prize, the fewer matches there are, so we’ll be taking a closer look at the matches themselves, rather than just previewing the matches that will be played.

Navarro vs Gauff leads Arthur Ashe

The first game in the biggest stadium will also start at 12pm. This has been pretty standard for the past few days, nothing has changed in that regard either, but for the first time this year we will see Grigor Dimitrov and also Andrey Rublev. Neither of them had the chance to play on Ashe this year, but on Sunday they will get it, and it is a fabulous matchup.

Dimitrov has been in good form in New York so far, but that should come as no surprise. He has always been very good at this tournament in recent years, and he has been in very good form for much of this year. He has had a much better year than Rublev, for example, although the Russian has had some highlights such as winning the Madrid Open.

In general, Rublev’s ceiling is higher because he has some success in the past, but he has generally been pretty bad at Grand Slams. He gets to the 4th round or quarterfinals but doesn’t really get past that. When he first faces a really strong player, the Russian kind of gives in, which is a bit odd because he can be pretty good at times.

It’s been a very interesting match so far with some close fights, but Rublev has generally had the upper hand. The last match last year in Shanghai was won by Rublev, and it was a pretty close match. It seems likely that will happen again.

The second match on Ashe is between Emma Navarro and Coco Gauff. This is a very special match because it is an all-American duel at the US Open. It is also a match that could result in an upset because the last time the two played each other, Navarro beat Gauff, and by a wide margin. That was at Wimbledon earlier this year, and Gauff was left stunned by the American, who played some wonderful tennis.

There was basically nothing she could do as Navarro took her game to pieces and comfortably smashed her. They certainly played well enough to do it again, especially as Gauff has struggled so much recently. So far it’s 1-1 as Gauff won the first match this year in Auckland easily, but she hasn’t played at this level in a long time.

Gauff has been pretty lackluster in recent weeks and the last few matches here at the US Open haven’t been great either. She won them but she has shown herself to be quite vulnerable as a player. Navarro, on the other hand, has looked really good in recent weeks and was very strong at the US Open as well. She may not be the favorite but the American can definitely win this match and that is exactly what makes it a must-win.

The night shift on Ashe will feature two matches, the first of which will pit Frances Tiafoe against Alexei Popyrin. Many had hoped that Tiafoe would face Novak Djokovic in this match, but Popyrin knocked the Serb out with a pretty strong performance and that will certainly not be easy for Tiafoe to overcome.

On paper it’s an interesting match, but the American is heavily favored because he’s playing on home soil, and it’s also the night shift on Ashe, where he’s put in some amazing performances in the past. Two years ago he almost beat Alcaraz and reached the final, so he’s certainly capable of winning this match and probably will.

The final match of the day on Ashe is a replay of the Olympic final. Qinwen Zheng faces Donna Vekic in a match we recently saw on clay in Paris. Zheng won that match quite comfortably and she is considered the favorite to repeat. But that doesn’t mean she will, because Vekic has been really good in recent weeks and in some ways might even be a better fit for this surface than Zheng.

She has certainly looked more confident so far than Zheng, who has struggled in virtually all of her fights but still managed to win. That resilience will come in handy even if this match is lost early.

Ruud-Fritz and Zverev on Louis Armstrong

Since there are not as many games as there used to be, the main grandstand will no longer host individual games, so we will have to limit ourselves to Louis Armstrong Stadium. As always, the field will host a total of five games, the first of which will start an hour earlier than on Ashe, at 11 a.m. local time.

The first match on Sunday is between Paula Badosa and Yafan Wang. On paper it’s an interesting match, but the Spaniard is heavily favored in this match because she’s the better player overall. Wang played well, but she got a bit lucky in the draw. Badosa had some really tough opponents, and that should have made her mentally stronger.

They’ll definitely fancy their chances here, and she should, because she’s the better player than Wang. The second match in this stadium is between Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz. That’s a really solid matchup because, for one, we have Fritz, who has looked really good. He hurt Matteo Berrettini like it was nothing, and that’s certainly a memorable win.

Then we have Casper Ruud, who played better here than in previous weeks, but the last game showed that he can be overwhelmed by a player who is very aggressive and hits the ball well. Well, that’s exactly the type of player Fritz is and he hit the ball really well.

Ruud and Fritz are neck and neck at the moment, but the crowd will certainly support the American more and it’s very likely that he wins this clash. We’ll see if it happens, but Ruud has had better results at the US Open in the past, so maybe it will. It should be very good in any case, so don’t miss it.

The next match is another interesting one, as it’s between Alexander Zverev and Brandon Nakashima. Zverev has played really well in this tournament so far and has won several matches by a clear margin.

Nakashima has also been very good in this tournament, hitting at an incredible level and just doing his job. He has been in very good form in general over the last few weeks and is a stronger player. The fact that he is a homegrown player will certainly draw the crowd to his side, which is an added bonus. Nevertheless, the German has won all her matches so far, including one at the US Open.

Overall, it should be a good match that Zverev will probably win. He is the favorite and the better player, although it will not be easy. The last time he faced him at the US Open, Nakashima won a set and no one would be shocked if that happened again.

The final will be between former doubles partners Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka. They know each other very well. Sabalenka is by far the better player, but Mertens has done very well in recent weeks and has beaten some very good opponents like Madison Keys in the last few rounds.

They will certainly fancy their chances here, even though Sabalenka is obviously in better form and the favorite to win. The Belarusian is the favorite to win the tournament because she has been so good recently. She won Cincinnati and has not disappointed with her performances at the US Open so far.

In her last match against Ekaterina Alexandrova she had some problems, but she still reacted very strongly and easily defeated the Russian in two sets. All in all, it promises to be an interesting affair, but the Belarusian should easily win this match.

So there you have it. That’s Day 7 and its schedule. There aren’t many matches because we’re getting closer to the final rounds, which means we’ll have fewer and fewer matches. However, each of these encounters is a great match that should theoretically be a really good game because the opponents are very similar in skill and most of them have won a few games already and are in good form.

They are also one of the favorites to win the tournament overall, which makes things even more interesting. Overall, it was an eventful day. Stay tuned for the latest from the US Open.

Schedule – Sunday, September 1 – US Open

Arthur Ashe Stadium

12:00 pm

(6) Andrey Rublev against (9) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

(13) Emma Navarro (USA) against (3) Coco Gauff (USA)

(20) Frances Tiafoe (USA) against (28) Alexei Popyrin (AUS)

(7) Qinwen Zheng (CHN) vs. (24) Donna Vekic (CRO)

Louis Armstrong Stadium

11:00 am

(26) Paula Badosa (ESP) against Yafan Wang (CHN)

(8) Casper Ruud (NOR) against (12) `Taylor Fritz (USA)

Brandon Nakashima (USA) – (4) Alexander Zverev (GER)

(33) Elise Mertens (BEL) against (2) Aryna Sabalenka