Frances Tiafoe Upsets Former Champion Daniil Medvedev To Reach Quaterfinal

by Robert BluteSeptember 8, 2026, 1:42 pm >

Frances Tiafoe is now undefeated at 10-0 on the Billie Jean King Tennis Center’s second-biggest court, Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The American lives for the US Open, and it showed again last night as he stormed past former champion and world number one Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedev, who has struggled a bit as of late, is still a top player on the hard court surface, making this Tiafoe’s most impressive win at this year’s tournament.

The first set saw both players trading a ton of break points, with Tiafoe eventually winning the tiebreak 7-1.

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The crowd was behind him the entire night, with a massive sound pop at the end of the second set when Tiafoe took that set 6-4.

To Medvedev’s credit, he did not play that poorly; Tiafoe’s level was incredible, and the match was much closer than the scoreline suggested. Tiafoe just played the big points better, and exemplified that by saving set points in the third-set tiebreak and eventually finishing the match there.

Tiafoe is a huge fan favorite, but he will face another American next round. Young rising talent Alex Michelsen has been on the run of his life and is the only player in the tournament to this point that hasn’t lost a set in the men’s draw.

Michelsen will be a tough out for Tiafoe, who will still be the slight favorite. Unfortunately, the winner of that will have a huge task ahead of them, either taking on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or big-serving lefty Ben Shelton.

Shelton, Michelsen, and Tiafoe are all trying to end a historic 23-year drought since the last time an American man has won a Grand Slam. Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open, and since then, there have been plenty of hopefuls, but nobody has gotten it done.

These three players, along with another young star in Leaner Tien, are the next generation of American men and are all in a close race for the American top rank throughout the year.

Unfortunately, Tiafoe won’t get to play on Louis Armstrong Stadium for his quarterfinal match against Michelsen. That match will get the big stage on the main court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, at not before 1:00 p.m. EST.