18-year-old Alcaraz, Fernandez storm US Open quarterfinals

Teenage stars Carlos Alcaraz Garfia and Leylah Fernandez booked their passage to the quarterfinals of the US Open after each navigating their way past their Round of 16 opponents. Alcaraz defeated Peter Gojowczyk 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 6-0, and Fernandez defeated Angelique Kerber 4-6 7-6 6-2.

After their third round successes over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Naomi Osaka, the duo of Alcaraz and Fernandez created a little more history as they won their Round of 16 matches.

After his victory over Tsitsipas in the third Round made him the youngest player ever to defeat a Top 3 player at the US Open, Alcaraz was facing fellow unseeded German Peter Gojowczyk in his Round of 16 clash as he looked to go further in the tournament.

The teenager lost the first set to Gojowczyk 5-7 as the 32-year-old German World number 141 looked to put his foot down. Alcaraz was not flustered as he immediately recovered and claimed the second set 6-1. Gojowczyk raced to a 5-3 lead in the third set before Alcaraz battled to level matters at 5-5, but the German claimed the last two games to win the third set 7-5. Alcaraz was far from done as he took control to win the fourth set 6-2 before claiming a 6-0 win in the fifth set to take him through to the quarterfinals. The Spaniard won the match in three hours and 26 minutes to become the youngest US Open quarterfinalist of the Open Era. Alcaraz will face 12th seed Felix Auger Aliassime in the quarterfinals.

In the women’s event, Leylah Fernandez defeated experienced German 16th seed Angelique Kerber on the eve of her 19th birthday. Fernandez had to come back from a set down just as she did in her third round win over Naomi Osaka.

Kerber took the first set 6-4 before the 18-year-old Fernandez battled hard in the second set to win 7-6 and force a third set. The Canadian teenager then completed her shock win by claiming the third set 6-2 to book her place in the quarterfinals. She will face 5th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Unseeded Dutch qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp also qualified for the quarterfinals after picking up a stunning 6-3 6-4 5-7 5-7 6-1 victory over 11th seed Diego Schwartzman. The 25-year-old world number 117 defeated eighth seed Casper Ruud in the second round earlier in the tournament. He now faces a match against World number two Daniil Medvedev for a place in the semifinals.