Great Britain have no players left in the singles events at the US Open as a battling Jack Draper went down in four sets to Russian eighth seed Andrey Rublev in the last 16.
Taking part in his first fourth-round match at a Grand Slam, Draper - who had made a stellar return from injury at Flushing Meadows - was beaten 3-6 6-3 3-6 4-6 by Rublev in two hours and 45 minutes.
Rublev quickly assumed control of the tie with four wins from the opening five games, but the Russian cut a furious figure as an abundance of errors in the second set allowed Draper to level the contest.
However, the Briton - whose preparations for the US Open were disrupted by injury - evidently began to tire as the contest went on, as his footwork and first serves suffered in particular.
Rublev carelessly wasted one match point, standing and watching a Draper shot clip the line after seemingly expecting an out call, but he shrugged off that mistake to reach a ninth major quarter-final.
© Reuters
Bidding to end his Grand Slam quarter-final curse, Rublev must pit his wits against compatriot Daniil Medvedev for a first-ever semi-final appearance after the third seed recovered from a slow start to sink Alex de Minaur 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2.
De Minaur stunned Medvedev with a four-game winning streak to clinch the first set, but the world number three soon found his groove and hit 11 aces compared to just one for the Australian.
Elsewhere, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz comfortably came up trumps in his battle with fellow youngster Matteo Arnaldi, prevailing 6-3 6-3 6-4 in just under two hours.
Arnaldi saved seven break points over the course of the contest and even broke Alcaraz to love early in the third set, but the Wimbledon winner was not to be denied, despite only registering two aces at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz will continue the defence of his crown against Alexander Zverev, who treated the New York crowd to a four-hour and 41-minute spectacular against Jannik Sinner, ultimately prevailing 6-4 3-6 6-2 4-6 6-3 at 1:39AM.
© Reuters
Seven double faults and 67 unforced errors proved to be Sinner's downfall in the longest match of this year's tournament so far, while in the women's section, there was more Grand Slam disappointment for Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula.
Jabeur - who has finished as Wimbledon runner-up in each of the last two years - was beaten 6-2 6-4 by China's Zheng Qinwen, winning just 47% of points on her first serve during an underwhelming performance.
Qinwen - who reached the third round on her US Open debut last year - now prepares for battle against Australian Open holder Aryna Sabalenka, who comfortably defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-3.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys picked up an identical victory over an off-colour Pegula, who came up with a mere six winners compared to 20 unforced errors and is still waiting for her first Grand Slam semi-final appearance.
However, Keys was denied an all-American quarter-final with Peyton Stearns, as the 21-year-old lost 7-6[3] 3-6 2-6 to Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in spite of the Czech's arm injury, which subsequently forced her to withdraw from the women's doubles.
Ben Knapton
