Cerundolo fights back from brink to upset home favorite Fritz at US Open

As his final, desperate backhand sailed far past the baseline inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Taylor Fritz immediately buried his face in his hands, unable to conceal the anguish of surrendering such a promising position.

For much of the afternoon, Fritz was in control. He had built a two-sets-to-love lead against Francisco Cerundolo before breaking serve in the opening game of the third. A single unfocused service game shifted the momentum, and once Fritz lost his grip, he spent two more hours trying to recover it. His US Open campaign concluded with a painful 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 third-round defeat at the hands of a determined Cerundolo.

Any early loss at a home grand slam is difficult to process, but Fritz's timing was especially cruel. Once as high as No 4 in the rankings last year, he is the most accomplished American male player of his generation. In 2024, Fritz became the first American man to reach the US Open singles final since Andy Roddick in 2006, a run flanked by quarter-final losses to Novak Djokovic in 2023 and 2025. The 28-year-old is a fiercely committed competitor who, despite his own athletic limitations, has extracted so much from his game. There has typically been a superior player, often an all-time great, blocking his path to the major titles.

This year's US Open, though, presents a different landscape for much of the men's field. Jannik Sinner, the world No 1 and four-time grand slam champion, is absent due to injury, and the 39-year-old Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the first round. Carlos Alcaraz, the seven-time grand slam champion and defending champion, is playing his first tournament after a four-month injury absence.

Without an obvious favourite in proven grand slam-winning form, this tournament represents a significant chance for any player with ambitions of winning a major. Fritz, who featured prominently among those hoping to capitalise, was visibly frustrated with how he allowed the opportunity to slip away. In the deciding set he held three break points for a 5-3 lead and the chance to serve for the match.

"I don't even know what to say," he said. "I don't really want to talk to anybody, see anybody. I kind of just need to get out for a couple days and then just get back to work. I don't know how I let that happen today."

At the start of play, seven American men remained in the singles draw: Ben Shelton, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Learner Tien, Tommy Paul, Alex Michelsen and Michael Zheng. In the bottom half of the draw, where fourth-round spots were determined on Friday, an American man features in each of the four matches. Fritz's defeat serves as a caution to any of his compatriots harbouring hopes of becoming the first American man since Roddick at the 2003 US Open to win a grand slam title. Greater opportunity carries greater pressure. The coming week will reveal much about the character of every player in the men's draw.

Saturday was a difficult day for American players overall. Two days after Madison Keys produced one of the more remarkable comeback victories of her career, saving five match points on her way to a tight three-set win over Anna Bondar, she suffered one of her worst collapses. Keys led Zheng Qinwen 5-0 in the final set of their third-round match before losing 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5. "I think she started playing better; I started playing poorly," Keys said. "Then I felt like I couldn't play tennis any more, and it just was – it just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden."

Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion, said she believes a result like this had been approaching for some time and will compel her to address certain issues. "I just feel like I've been struggling for a while now and I feel like I was able to kind of play through it for a bit," she said. "I'm sure everyone could kind of see that I was struggling a little bit, but inside it felt probably even bigger than that. Some weeks are easier than others, and this week is obviously one of the harder ones just because you care so much. Yeah, I'm going to have to make some changes."

For Zheng, this was a substantial win. Having won the Olympic gold medal and reached the top 10 in 2024, the Chinese player has dropped in the rankings since her return from elbow surgery, and the 23-year-old was required to come through qualifying just to enter the main draw.

"Tennis sometimes feels like a rollercoaster," Zheng said. "You see many times that people have a match point, but at the end [their opponent] makes a comeback. Like today was just happening. So this also gives me a lesson that in a tennis match you always have to be there. It doesn't matter if you are winning or losing, you have a match point or you don't have a match point – you just need to be concentrated for every single point as long as you can."

Amanda Anisimova, whose breakthrough summer of 2025 included runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open alongside a career-high ranking of No 3, will drop out of the top 10 after a 6-2, 7-5 loss to the 24th seed Anastasia Potapova. Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, saved three set points in her second set before securing a hard-fought 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) win over Marie Bouzkova. Swiatek faces Zheng in the fourth round on Sunday.