Thompson marches on as Aussie US Open assault continues

[Pelican Press 0]

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Thompson marches on as Aussie US Open ******** continues

Seed-slaying Jordan Thompson has claimed another scalp to set up a possible all-*********** fourth-round US Open showdown with Alex de Minaur.

After sending world No.7 Hubert Hurkacz packing in round two, Thompson took out 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi 7-5 6-2 7-6 (7-5) on day six to storm into the last 16 at Flushing Meadows for a second time.

De Minaur was playing Brit Dan Evans on Saturday night (Sunday AEST), with the winner to face Thompson for a quarter-final berth.

With Alexei Popyrin basking in the glory of his stunning defeat of defending champion Novak Djokovic, Australia has already converted its biggest US Open contingent in 43 years to having at least two players in the men’s last 16.

Whether he plays de Minaur or Evans, Thompson will take a power of stopping.

Playing the tennis of his life, having won his maiden ATP title this year in Los Cabos and made the final in Atlanta, the proud Paris Olympian has now matched his career-best grand slam run from the 2020 US Open.

Yet to drop a set this campaign, Thompson fell behind 4-2 in the third against Arnaldi, a 2023 Italian Davis Cup winner widely considered one of the brightest young stars in tennis.

But, as he does, Thompson went straight back to work, breaking Arnaldi in the seventh game and recovering from 3-0 down in the third-set tiebreaker to seal victory after two hours, 33 minutes.

But Chris O’Connell’s Open is over after Australia’s fourth third-round representative copped a lesson from world No.1 Jannik Sinner on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I felt like he was on from the get-go. I felt a little bit clueless, to be honest,” O’Connell said after exiting with a 6-1 6-4 6-2 loss.

“Every single shot, I just felt like I had to do something with it because he was just on me. He was suffocating me.

“I mean, yeah, I’ve got to believe but I just felt that he was really on *****.

“The best tennis player I’ve ever played, for sure.”

O’Connell can console himself with a career-best payday of $US215,000 ($A$315,000) for reaching the last 32.

Popyrin, the 28th seed, meets world No.20 Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round on Sunday night (9am Monday AEST) in a prime time showdown.

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