“It’s awesome, it’s good to be back – it’s been a while,” said Gustavo Fernandez after ending his 211-day wait for competitive tennis with a hard-earned victory over Stephane Houdet at the US Open.

The men’s wheelchair No.2 seed, chasing the one Grand Slam singles title missing from his collection, edged a rollercoaster start to his quarter-final clash with two-time US Open winner Houdet – a tricky opening match-up for Fernandez, who thrives on the rhythm of rallies – before hitting his groove in the second set to post a 6-4 6-1 win. A semi-final showdown with two-time defending champion Alfie Hewett awaits on Friday.

“I was feeling fitter and maybe better with my strokes, but the tension of not playing a lot in the last months was tough at the beginning,” said Fernandez, whose last match came at the Australian Open in late January. “Then I started to feel a lot better during the match, started to find my rhythm, my power, and that made the difference. I was well prepared for this match, and I was able to put it to work on the court.”

A tough start before returning to his natural patterns – Fernandez’s performance carried echoes of his experience of lockdown over the last seven months. The 26-year-old admits that he found the 80 days spent not just unable to train but largely confined to his apartment in Buenos Aires particularly tough, but with his family having avoided issues with COVID-19 he returns to action with a fresh outlook on his life and career.

“We adopted a cat, that was the new thing at home with my girlfriend,” Fernandez said. “And I played a lot of video games. It was the only way to be able to forget about the reality we were living.

“But the priority and the perspective was always my family’s safety, so I can’t complain. I got to outlive this part of history, and that’s the most important thing. We’re learning stuff from this part of history. I’ll try to see if that helps me to improve me in a lot of things.”

Unable to take to court for three months, Fernandez nevertheless kept up his gym work and mental coaching before slowly returning to action in May.

“I spent over 80 days without practicing, so at the beginning it was about feeling the racquet again in my hand,” he said. “I worked physically at home for two hours a day, but it’s not the same as going out on court. At the beginning I was trying to hit the ball slowly, then an hour of tennis, then an hour and a half, then two hours. After that we began to practice a lot.

“I’ve practiced with able-bodied players in the last two or three months, first drills, and then points. I’ve been working with my mental coach during the entire lockdown – I never stopped, same with my physio and my trainer. So it’s been busy. I wasn’t able to go out a lot, but my work never stopped.”

Hewett, the 2018 and 2019 champion, began and ended his battle-of-the-Brits showdown with doubles partner Gordon Reid in fine style. The 22-year-old raced out to a 4-0 lead before meeting some stern resistance from the Scot, but from 2-2 in the second set he broke clear once more for an impressive 6-0 6-2 victory.

“Alfie loves playing here, and he’s always a tough opponent. We’ve had some great battles in the past, so we’ll see – tomorrow’s going to be a rough day, but I’m going to be ready for anything. I like the way I’m playing, I like the way I’m competing, I like the way I get to compete back, so we will see.”

Having matched Esther Vergeer’s tally of 44 majors with victory at the Australian Open at the start of the year, world No.1 Shingo Kunieda’s bid for a record-breaking 45^th Grand Slam title is off to a solid start after weathering opening salvos in each set from Nicolas Peifer. The Frenchman produced some spectacular shots early in the contest, particularly off his backhand wing, but Kunieda kept his opponent on the move to draw errors and open up the court en route to a 6-3 6-2 win.

“This one was a long-time-no-match for me, so at the beginning it was tough to adjust to the match, but I played better game by game,” said Kunieda, chasing a 10^th US Open title in 2020 as well as Vergeer’s record, all with one eye on the upcoming Paralympic Games on home soil. “This has a lot of meaning for me because we have Tokyo 2020 next year,” he added.

Kunieda will take on world No.4 Joachim Gerard in the other semi-final after the Belgian fought back to beat wild card Casey Ratzlaff 4-6 6-3 6-0. Ratzlaff, the US No.1 and world No.20, capitalised on a bright start and bounced back when Gerard claimed a break early in the second set, but the 22-year-old Grand Slam debutant was left for dust as the match passed the two-hour mark.

De Groot holds nerve against returning champion Whiley

In the women’s wheelchair singles, Top seed Diede De Groot overcame some early jitters to down Jordanne Whiley on the Briton’s return to Flushing Meadows since winning the title in 2015.

Ahead of Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka’s mother-vs-mother showdown in the women’s singles semi-finals, Whiley became the first elite wheelchair tennis player to compete at the US Open after giving birth. And with two-time defending champ De Groot struggling on serve, the 28-year-old had her chances in a cagey 6-3 6-4 defeat.

“It was actually quite tough today,” De Groot admitted. “I was quite nervous for the first few games of the match – I could feel my heart rate getting high – but I actually played quite good. After the first set I settled down, but then my serve went everywhere.”

De Groot knows she will need to step up her game in the semi-finals against Dutch compatriot Marjolein Buis, who eased past USA’s Dana Mathewson 6-2 6-1. And while she now arrives on court with experience of winning all four majors in both singles and doubles, it does not insulate her from the challenges that await in this first post-lockdown event for the wheelchair players, with Grand Slam glory on the line.

“I think it actually makes more pressure,” De Groot said. “We’ve all been at home training but we haven’t been playing matches, so I feel like we’re all starting at zero.”

Reigning Australian Open champion Yui Kamiji overcame a late rally from Japanese compatriot Momoko Ohtani to secure a 6-2 7-6(5) victory and set up a semi-final showdown with Colombia's Angelica Bernal, the sole Grand Slam debutant to post an opening-day victory after beating British wild card Lucy Shuker 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Kamiji, the No.2 seed, looked set to wrap up a comfortable victory when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second, but Ohtani, making her Grand Slam debut, went for broke with some big hitting to send the set into a tiebreak. In the end, Kamiji proved too savvy, disarming the big-hitting 25-year-old to advance.

“First of all, I’m very happy to be back on court,” said Kamiji, who was playing her first match since her triumph in Melbourne back in February. “At the beginning it was a little bit difficult – I practiced a lot at home, but there’s a difference between practice and matches, but I really enjoyed it.

As for Ohtani’s debut performance, Kamiji added: “Yes, she’s very tough opponent, and unfortunately a Japanese head-to-head in the first round. She’s a very good player, and hopefully in the future I can play doubles with her. It’s midnight in Japan, but I hope many people watched it.”

Lapthorne and Alcott open with wins ahead of final rematch

In the first of the round robin matches in the quad singles event, reigning US Open champion Andy Lapthorne came through a see-saw contest with David Wagner, emerging triumphant 6-2 2-6 6-4 after one hour and 42 minutes.

Top seed Dylan Alcott overcame a late rally from Dutch debutant Sam Schroder, the 20-year-old recovering from a set and 4-2 down to get back on serve in the second, only to double fault and hand the Australian match point, claimed moments later with a forehand return winner.

“I remember my first Grand Slam, I almost had a heart attack – but he played pretty good!” Alcott said in tribute to Schroder after the 6-2 6-4 win. “I’m getting old now. I’m 30 this year and he’s 20. So congrats to him, it’s a big achievement to get here, and he’s a good bloke too.”

On his own performance, Alcott added: “That’s my first match since COVID took over the world, so I’m proud with how I played. I’m glad I’m enjoying my tennis. We would have just had the Paralympics, obviously we didn’t, and I was pretty sad about that. I’m just happy to be back on court.

“I’ve got to thank the US Open as well. For us to be here is awesome and they’ve been so accommodating since we got here. It’s incredible how well it’s running, I’m really impressed.”

Lapthorne will face Alcott on Friday in a rematch of their 2019 final, while Schroder faces Wagner, both men knowing only a win gives them a chance of reaching Sunday's title match.