Peter Gojowczyk roared out for all his joy and then clapped his hands in disbelief: The 32-year-old from Munich is continuing the best run of his Grand Slam career with wild determination and is in the top 16 for the first time. His opponent could be co-favorite Stefanos Tsitsipas ( Live ticker). In the late evening, Angelique Kerber wants to imitate her compatriot (live ticker).
The qualifier, who had traveled to the US Open without a trainer or personal physio, moved into the round of 16 on Friday after the next brilliant performance with a 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1, 6: 4 success against the Swiss Henri Laaksonen New York a. Gojowczyk has already secured prize money of 265,000 US dollars (around 220,000 euros) and will now meet the French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece or the Spanish top talent Carlos Alcaraz (live ticker).
“I don’t care who comes now,” said Gojowczyk at Eurosport. The victory over Laaksonen was “absolutely the highlight of my career. I enjoyed playing such a big game today. His motto:” Take away, enjoy and go on. “
With Alexander Zverev and Oscar Otte, two more German men have the chance to reach the last sixteen on Saturday. Zverev meets the former world number eight Jack Sock from the USA. Otte, also a qualifier, faces the Italian Andreas Seppi. Angelique Kerber is the only one left for women. The three-time Grand Slam winner will take on the American Sloane Stephens on Friday evening in a duel between two previous tournament winners.
Gojowczyk loses set 1 despite a good performance
Gojowczyk made it into the third round as one of five qualifiers – more than at the US Open since 1984. And to a certain extent his successes were also victories against probability. While top stars traveled to New York with large teams, Gojowczyk accepted the challenge as a one-man team. “I’m proud of the way I manage all of this,” said the athlete, who trains in Unterföhring near Munich and currently has no permanent coach.
So he prepared single-handedly for the game against Laaksonen, which he had not yet met on tour level. In Challenger tournaments Gojowczyk lost two close duels on hard court against the native Finn, but the entire match situation could not be compared with a third round game in a Grand Slam.
In bright sunshine on the Grandstand, Gojowczyk got into the first set well, but then lost his focus a little, looked dissatisfied and shook his head. But the reaction was right, he now played more aggressively and immediately got a break at the beginning of the second part of the match, which he no longer gave.
US Open, Day 5: The most important matches of the day
| time | Player 1 | Player 2 | Result |
| 17 o’clock | Henri Laaksonen (SUI) | Peter Gojowczyk (GER) | 6:3, 3:6, 1:6, 4:6 |
| 6 p.m. | Garbine Muguruza (ESP / 9) | Viktoria Azarenka (BLR) | 6:4, 3:6, 6:2 |
| 19 o’clock | Daniil Medvedev (RUS / 2) | Pablo Andujar (ESP) | 6:0, 6:4, 6:3 |
| 19 o’clock | Barbora Krejcikova (CZE / 8) | Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) | 6:4, 6:2 |
| 8.45 p.m. | Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) | Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE / 3) | Liveticker |
| 8.15 p.m. | Elina Svitolina (UKR / 5) | Darja Kasatkina (RUS) | |
| 22 O `clock | Angelique Kerber (GER) | Sloane Stephens (USA) | Liveticker |
| 1 O ‘clock | Leylah Fernandez (CAN) | Naomi Osaka (JAP/3) | |
| 2.15 a.m. | Andrej Rublev (RUS / 5) | Frances Tiafoe (USA) | |
| 3 o’clock | Danielle Collins (USA) | Aryna Sabalenka (BLR/2) |
.
