Yo dudes, and welcome to the US Open 2024 – day eight!

Sometimes, the desire of tournament organisers to put the biggest names on primetime is an annoyance, but other times it works quite well. Today, for example, when our most enticing match is also our first.

Jasmine Paolini has had an amazing year, coming from nowhere to reach the last two major finals, a bouncing bundle of joy and aggression who can scarcely believe what’s happening to her. But in Karolina Muchová she meets an opponent whose clever deployment of spins, angles, power and pace makes her a one-off for whom it’s difficult to plan. Or, in other words, this could be an absolute classic.

Following them on Armstrong, Jack Draper – whose win over Botic van de Zandschulp, conqueror of Carlos Alcaraz, gives him the number three seed’s passage through the draw – meets Tomas Machac. Draper knows what a chance this is for him, but the pressure isn’t too great because he also knows there’ll be many more such chances. His swinging lefty serve and his certainty that he belongs make him a serious threat … but to get to this point, Machac has despatched Fabio Fognini, Seb Korda and David Goffin in straight sets and all of his best grand slam performances have come in 2024. He too believes this can be his moment.

Also on Armstrong is Caroline Wozniacki v Beatriz Haddad-Maia and Alex de Minaur v Jordan Thompson – decent! – while our day-dig on Ashe brings Diana Shnaider v Jessica Pegula and Nuno Borges v Daniil Medvedev. So, eyes down for another banging day of lovely tennis. Awesome! Let’s go!

Play: 11am local, 4pm BST