Recap 2024 US Open Day Six Saturday 31 August - Catch-up on yesterday's main moments from Flushing Meadows

The sixth day of the US Open came and went, and it was a fascinating day of tennis where we saw some thrilling matches, though not too many surprises. Our daily recap looks back on the action from Saturday 31 August.

Tennis fans were a bit spoiled by all the drama that happened in the previous days, with some of the top seeds like Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic crashing out. Yesterday’s top seeds, for the most part, showed up and delivered, so there wasn’t much drama in that regard. There were some exciting matches, though, and we’re going to go into all of that below. As always, we’re starting with the WTA.

Muchova, Pegula, Swiatek impress

The first two matches of the day featured some very good players and hardly any surprises. Karolina Muchova once again showed that she is indeed one of the best players in the world when she’s fully healthy and playing well. That’s been the case at this year’s US Open, and she had no issues navigating a somewhat tricky matchup against Anastasia Potapova, who can play some pretty devastating tennis on her day.

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Potapova is an aggressive baseliner, but Muchova knows how to handle those about as well as anybody, and she did in two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to move on. We haven’t really seen much of her this year as she was dealing with injuries yet again, but with this level, the 28-year-old is certainly a player to watch until the end of the event. She could go all the way, and she did stand in a Grand Slam final before.

The other match featured two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini. That’s how incredible her year has been. Some players wait a lifetime to find themselves in two Grand Slam finals, and for her, it happened all in one year. It happened this year, and back to back no less, because she stood in the Roland Garros final and then the Wimbledon final.

The dream of a US Open final is still alive as she’s through to the second week following a pretty solid win over Yulia Putintseva, 6-3, 6-4. It was a complicated match with lots of breaks, but the always feisty Italian was able to demonstrate her sheer willpower once more, fighting her way to a victory. With the tennis she’s producing and the tenacity to never give up on a point or match, Paolini could be a player to watch who could surprise as well.

The first match on Ashe featured Jessica Pegula, and she’s slowly moved herself from the dark horse category to the favourites. She’s 12-1 in her last 13 matches, with only one loss to Aryna Sabalenka. She’s playing at her home Slam, where she’s getting all the fan support she needs, and she’s playing really great. Another strong showing and a win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-3, 6-3, confirmed that.

Things worked great for Pegula, though her opponent greatly helped with this match ending sooner than it needed to. Overall, a really solid win, and she’ll hope to keep it going. Sara Errani’s incredible run at the US Open is over as she was beaten by Diana Shnaider, 6-2, 6-2.

Jessica Pegula impresses again....

The Russian might be only 20, but she’s had an incredible year with impressive performances against lots of players, including Coco Gauff. She plays a very aggressive style, attacking relentlessly, but she’s also very smart about it. Mats Wilander was surprised to find she was only 20 due to how smartly she approaches her matches.

Shnaider has been stellar over the past few weeks, and up next for her is Jessica Pegula. They played recently with the American winning, but don’t think the young Russian won’t be eyeing an upset.

A couple of veterans also scored wins. Caroline Wozniacki has had a really easy draw in New York, and she’s taken advantage of it, winning yet another match without too many problems. Liudmila Samsonova also produced a really solid level to win her match, and they’re both through to the next round. Both could prove to be factors, albeit not quite good enough to make it all the way.

The night shift first saw Iga Swiatek step onto the courts to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. It was an interesting match for a while, but eventually, the Polish player took over and easily won the match 6-4, 6-2. She’s looking better and better and is now firmly a favourite alongside Aryna Sabalenka.

Those two have looked the best so far at the event, and there is a pretty good chance that one of them ends up being the champion. The final WTA match of the day was between Haddad Maia and Kalinskaya. The former won that one easily 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the next round.

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Draper, Sinner and Paul impress

There was some pretty decent tennis played on the ATP side as well, with a couple of solid first matches. Tomas Machac used the momentum from his win over Korda to produce yet another solid showing as he beat David Goffin. It was an interesting match, but the Czech gold medallist continued his good form displayed in Paris here in New York, and the wins he’s had have been really good.

Another player who has been playing really solid tennis lately is Jack Draper, as he found a good level in Cincinnati and kept it up in New York. He faced Van de Zandschulp, who had just beaten Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, and for the most part, Draper didn’t face any issues. His opponent wasn’t playing as brilliantly as he did against Alcaraz, which certainly helped Draper, but he was also quite solid.

Jack Draper continues to show why he's a player to watch.

Good from the baseline, good with the serve, and generally very clinical when he had chances while holding his nerve when his opponent created break chances as well. Just overall a very solid display from him, and he’ll be a name to watch in the coming days. He could go far with the way he’s played recently.

Then it was time for Jannik Sinner to step out onto the courts, and the Italian produced yet another smashing effort. After Djokovic and Alcaraz went out of the event, Sinner became the most likely to win the trophy by default, and he’s played really well. This performance was a level above his performances in the previous rounds, so that’s a good sign for the Italian, who will have a few solid challenges in the upcoming rounds, but it’s nothing that he can’t really handle.

He is playing well, he is feeling well, and he’s very confident about what he can do, so keep an eye on Sinner in the coming days. He is marching towards a second Grand Slam trophy.

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Tommy Paul has been amazing in recent weeks as well, but the American had a fair share of problems against qualifier Diallo. The Canadian was playing really solid tennis all week long, and Paul had to work really hard to get this one done. He did in four sets, keeping yet another American in the draw; there are three of them remaining.

The most dramatic match of the day was between Jakub Mensik and Nuno Borges. Mensik is a standout at the US Open, producing great performances both this year and last year when he debuted. Borges is a former college player who is very familiar with courts like these. Their match ended up being a five-set epic where Borges pulled off an incredible win. He was down 6-3 in the fourth set tiebreak only to win it 8-6 and then bageled Mensik in the final set 6-0 to advance. A huge result for the player who bested Nadal in the Bastad Open final as he’s now top 30 in the live race.

Jordan Thompson is another name that continued playing well as he navigated a very tricky match against Matteo Arnaldi. Thompson has been playing lots of tennis over the past few weeks, and he’s been really solid, taking apart the Italian’s game point by point. He won’t be an easy out for anybody that he plays next.

The final two matches on the ATP side featured one drama-filled match and one less so. Medvedev faced Flavio Cobolli in a match where he largely didn’t have any issues as he was able to win in straight sets. Despite struggling with his serve, the Russian has been able to play really solid tennis and is one of the players who could go all the way.

Don’t forget that he won the trophy here in the past and also beat Jannik Sinner recently at Wimbledon. The drama-filled match was the one between de Minaur and Evans. It was a banger of a match with plenty of great rallies, but unfortunately, a hip injury gave Evans major problems from the third set onwards.

He toughed it out and didn’t retire, but he lost both of the final two sets 6-0, 6-0 as he could barely move. De Minaur continues to impress while not being 100% himself.

That’s it, that’s the day, so go check out our preview of today’s matches so you are up to date with your tennis.