US Open Day 10 live: Naomi Osaka reveals when she’ll return

Former world number one Naomi Osaka is plotting her return to tennis after giving birth to her first child, with one big early move.

Welcome to news.com.au’s live coverage of the 2023 US Open Grand Slam.

The tournament is deep into the quarterfinal stages with two late matches on Thursday AEST setting up the the final four for both the men and women.

Women’s number two seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised through her match to advance, while Russian Daniil Medvedev brushed aside countryman Andrey Rublev.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz then had few troubles in his Arthur Ashe Stadium showdown with Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Prior to that, Madison Keys kept the good times going for the home fans, knocking out reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Don’t miss any of the key moments right here.

1.45pm: King Carlos at his brilliant best

Top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has been moving through the US Open field with remarkable ease, but was tipped to face some reisistance from German 12th-seed Alexander Zverev.

Yeah, not so much.

Alcaraz, who only turned 20 in May, pulled off some of his typically audacious shotmaking en route to a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory.

Zverez, who will return to the live top 10 following his run in New York, had won three of his first four matches with the Spaniard.

Alvaraz has claimed the last two without dropping a set, however, to set up a semi-final showdown with Daniil Medvedev on Saturday AEST.

AN ABSOLUTE ROCKET OF A FOREHAND FROM ALCARAZ 🚀 pic.twitter.com/FAFFr1acjJ

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2023

10:50am: Keys wins through to semi-finals

American Madison Keys has won through to the US Open semi-finals with a 6-1 6-4 victory over ninth seed Maketa Vondrousova.

In front of a rowdy home crowd Keys continued her giant-killing run after defeating third seed Jessica Pegula.

Things will get a whole lot more tricky for the 28-year-old in her next match as she faces future world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals on Friday.

USA's Madison Keys is on fire. (Photo by COREY SIPKIN / AFP)

9am - Naomi Osaka opens up on tennis return

Former world number one Naomi Osaka has opened up on her return to the court after giving birth to her first child this year.

The Japanese star announced her pregnancy shortly after withdrawing from the Australian Open last year.

After missing the entirety of the 2023 season, Osaka is planning on coming back bigger than ever in 2024, kicking things off at the Australian Open. She won the Melbourne Slam in 2019 and 2021.

“I’ll be playing way more tournaments than I used to play,” Osaka said in an interview with ESPN at the US Open.

“I don’t know how the start of the year is gonna go for me, like the level of play. I kind of have to ease into it ... at the very least I’ll set myself up for a very good end of the year.”

Osaka is planning on coming back at the Australian Open. Mark Brown/Getty Images/AFP.

Osaka said she loved for her daughter to grow up idolising American sensation Coco Gauff.

“I’m always really proud of everything she does,” she said.

“She seems like such a good person. Everything she’s doing & speaking out about so many different topics ... it’s something I’d love to have my kid to look up to as a role model.

“Seeing her doing well in her home Grand Slam is really cool. I cheer for her every match she plays.”

7am – ‘Someone is going to die’: Medvedev fumes

The heat is searing at the US Open and it left Daniil Medvedev hot under the collar in his match against fellow Russian Andrey Rublev.

After calling for the doctor on two separate occasions to bring him an inhaler, the third seeded Medvedev was left fuming in the middle of the third set.

As he grabbed his towel and wiped down the copious amounts of sweat, courtside microphones picked up him saying: “One day a player gonna die and they gonna see”.

The heat is searing in New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Throughout the match when both players returned to their seats they both had ice packs in towels drapped around their necks and shoulders.

Players throughout the tournament have been covered in profuse amounts of sweat with changes of clothes becoming a regular occurrence throughout matches.

Despite the scorching conditions, Medvedev booked his place in the semi-finals with 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

He produced stunning comebacks in every set with Rublev leading 3-0 in the first set, 3-1 in the second and 4-2 in the third.

35 degrees (95 F) and humidity around 60%. It’s been tough in New York. pic.twitter.com/XLINmP4dBV

— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) September 6, 2023

It will be Medvedev’s fourth visit to the semi-final stage at the US Open.

After the match he was asked his thoughts on the blistering conditions that took place throughout the contest.

“It was brutal. The only good thing I see in this condition is that both suffered,” he said.

“The end of the first set, I couldn’t see the ball any more. I just played with sensation, tried to run, tried to go for it, tried to hit the ball. He did the same things sometimes.”

He’ll now take on the winner of the Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev match while in the other semi-final Novak Djokovic is set to take on unseeded American Ben Shelton.

6:30am – Shelton continues stunning US Open surge

In a season of firsts for Ben Shelton that began with a quarter-final appearance on his Australian Open debut, the 20-year-old American now faces the greatest challenge of his young career: Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday’s US Open final.

Shelton, a former college star who only turned professional last year, surpassed his breakout performance in Melbourne on Tuesday by knocking out Frances Tiafoe to reach the last four in New York.

The youngest American men’s US Open semi-finalist since Michael Chang in 1992, Shelton’s success at Grand Slams has masked an otherwise challenging first full season on the ATP circuit.

In between the two majors which bookend the tennis calendar, he went 18 straight tour-level events without winning back-to-back matches.

But Shelton attributed his victory over Tiafoe partly to the growing pains that have strengthened his resolve as he charts his path on the tour.

Shelton is one step away. (Photo by COREY SIPKIN / AFP)

“I think I’ve definitely made some strides physically being out on tour a full year and playing a lot of matches and just being on the court more, working hard in the gym,” said Shelton, beaten in the first round of last year’s US Open as the world number 165.

“My fitness levels have surely improved, and I think all that together is kind of what happened (Tuesday).” He celebrated by pretending to answer a phone call before hanging up — a signature move of friend and three-time 110m hurdles world champion Grant Holloway. “For me it’s kind of like I’m saying I’m dialed in,” he said.

Ten of Shelton’s 17 wins in 2023 have come at the Grand Slams, and he is the last remaining hope this week for a country without a men’s major winner since Andy Roddick won the US Open 20 years ago.

“Going into the semi-finals, I’m pretty pumped about the opportunity to go back out there and have the same feeling that I had (against Tiafoe), you know, another really tough opponent,” said Shelton.

“I have been enjoying every minute on court, interactions with the crowds and just the tennis that’s being played. So I hope that I can bring a high level again on Friday.”