Doubles Take: US Open semifinal berths on the line

Doubles Take is here with your daily dose of news from the US Open.

Jamie Murray definitely lived up to the “Labor” part of Labor Day.

The Scot and Bruno Soares, the 2016 US Open champions, advanced to the quarterfinals over Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop behind shots like this.

Later on, Murray took the court with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and after splitting two tiebreak sets against Nadiia Kichenok and Wesley Koolhof, they prevailed in a match tiebreak 10-7 to reach the semis.

As all of the draws winnow down, here’s a look at three big matches on Tuesday.

1

Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (5) vs. Rohan Bopanna/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (15): With their styles best-suited for faster courts, Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin would be considered the favorites—back in 2017. The 2018 version of “Colombian Power,” which reached the Australian Open final, has gotten better on all surfaces and should be able to keep building upon their dream season.

2

Ekaterina Makarova/Lucie Hradecka (6) vs. Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (2): 2018 has been a banner year for the reunited Babos-Mladenovic team, with their Australian Open win back in January the highlight. However, they haven’t been able to establish themselves as a dominant duo. Makarova and Hradecka, meanwhile, came into the Open hot with their title in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

This has the potential to be a battle, with the lower-seeded team coming out on top.

3

Austin Krajicek/Tennys Sandgren vs. Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo (7): Things haven’t gone to plan for Kubot and Melo this year, who dominated throughout 2017 but have only won two events in their follow-up campaign. There’s a big opportunity to turn around the season as they’re in good position to reach their first Slam semi of the year against the American upstarts.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias