British number one Jack Draper made extremely light work of Czechia's Tomas Machac to reach the last eight of the US Open, the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his fledgling career.
The 25th seed had not dropped a single set in any of his first three contests in New York and entered the last 16 on the back of a dominant success over Botic van de Zandschulp, who had conquered Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the tournament.
Machac was also nine for nine in US Open sets and enjoyed a notable second-round scalp over 16th seed Sebastian Korda, but the Czech challenger was overwhelmed by Draper's sheer power both on serve and return.
With one hour and 42 minutes gone at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, Draper sealed an emphatic 6-3 6-1 6-2 victory to surge into his maiden major quarter-final, but he remained as composed as ever on the court.
Referencing the seven double faults and 38 unforced errors that Machac made, Draper insisted that his Czech foe was not at his best, saying: "Today I played a decent level.
"He was maybe a little bit off his best but I had to stay strong in the points. I lost here last year in the same round so it's nice to come back and do better."
Jack Draper is going into the quarterfinals looking DANGEROUS. pic.twitter.com/k4pdLd44LL
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2024
Draper showcases returning nous in Machac mauling
Lauded for his exceptional returning and ability to put break points away - ranking second out of all ATP Tour players for break points converted over the past year - Draper took six of his nine such opportunities on Monday, while also saving all six that Machac brought up.
The Briton's 36th and final winner of the day came on match point, where he executed a terrific backhand with Machac on the other side of the court before some reserved fist pumps in celebration.
One of two Australian foes will stand in Draper's way of a place in the US Open semi-finals, as he will face the winner of Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson's battle later on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Jessica Pegula and Karolina Muchova also progressed to the quarters, with the former seeing off Diana Shnaider in straight sets and the latter overcoming Wimbledon and French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini.
The Flushing Meadows crowds still have Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner to look forward to; the women's top seed takes on Liudmila Samsonova while Sinner faces Tommy Paul at Arthur Ashe in the night session.
Ben Knapton
