Fourth seed Alexander Zverev has extended his winning streak to 16 matches by easing past South African Lloyd Harris 7-6(6) 6-3 6-4 and into the US Open semi-finals.
The German now looms large as a potential roadblock to Novak Djokovic's bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam, with the two potentially meeting in the final four.
The victory leaves Zverev one win away from a second consecutive US Open final and another shot at a first career major title, after losing to Dominic Thiem last year.
Zverev will await the winner between top seed Djokovic and Italian Matteo Berrettini, who meet later on Thursday in a rematch of the Wimbledon final.
The path to what would be a record 21st major title has become very steep for the history-hunting Serb, who must first get through sixth seed Berrettini, with Zverev now waiting in the wings.
Harris stepped out onto Arthur Ashe stadium court oozing energy, looking as if he had performed on tennis's biggest stage many times before.
The Cape Towner had good reason to be confident, after knocking out three seeds - Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov (25), Denis Shapovalov (7) and Reilly Opelka (22) - on his way to his first career Grand Slam quarter-final.
But no player at Flushing Meadows has ridden a bigger wave of momentum than Zverev, who came into the contest on a career-best 15-match winning streak and has dropped just one set en route to his quarter-final.
After trading breaks, a tight opening set went to a tiebreak, where Harris had a chance to grab a 1-0 lead, serving at 6-5. The 46th-ranked South African could not convert.
But Zverev would not squander his opportunity, taking the next two points and the set, leaving a furious Harris smashing drink bottles to the ground during the changeover, spraying water all over the court, and bringing out ball boys and girls for a clean-up.
Sensing an opening, Zverev quickly applied the pressure in the second, breaking Harris at the first opportunity, and that was all he would need to take a 2-0 lead.
Harris had rallied from two sets to one down against Khachanov in the opening round, but there would be no way back against the Olympic gold medal winner, who went up a double break in the third, before finishing off his opponent with a thundering ace.
Reuters
