US Open - Serena win sets up all-American fourth-round match

US Open - Serena win sets up all-American fourth-round match

Defending champion Serena Williams beat unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3 6-1 to set up a US Open fourth-round clash with fellow American Sloane Stephens.

 

Four-times US Open winner Williams grabbed the only service break of the first set in the sixth game and immediately seized the advantage by breaking the 78th-ranked Shvedova in the opening game of the second set and charged on to victory.

The routine win moved the world number one and top seed into the round of 16 against 20-year-old Stephens, who defeated Williams in the quarter-finals of this year's Australian Open.

The 15th-seeded Stephens defeated compatriot Jamie Hampton 6-1 6-3 in her third-round match.

Williams, 31, was never really threatened by Shvedova, who had advanced to the third round with the loss of just six games.

The 25-year-old with the heavy, flat groundstrokes produced only three winners as she fell short of becoming the first woman to reach the fourth round of the US Open representing Kazakhstan.

Williams dismissed the notion that she would be playing for revenge against Stephens with a berth in the quarter-finals at stake.

"It's going to be tough, Sloane is playing so well," Williams said on court after her late finish in the final night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"Regardless, there's going to be one American in the quarter-finals, and I'm really proud of Sloane and it's going to be a really good match."

Stephens, after her victory, said she was eager for a clash against Williams.

"I think it will be an epic," said Stephens. "I'm really looking forward to it."

The young American lost to Williams in the Brisbane quarter-finals two weeks before the Australia Open.

"She's a great competitor, one of the best players to ever play the game," she said about what she admires about the 16-times Grand Slam singles winner.

"She's a fierce competitor, obviously she's number one in the world for a reason. She's very aggressive. She stays on top of you, doesn't give you any room to breathe. She's intense. She knows what she wants to do out there.

"That's why she's number one in the world."

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US Open - Hewitt stuns Del Potro

US Open - Hewitt stuns Del Potro

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt won an absorbing late-night thriller against Juan Martin Del Potro at the US Open to move into the third round.

 

In a battle between two former US Open champions, the veteran Australian came out on top after more than four hours, winning 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6 (2) 6-1, in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

Del Potro, who stunned Roger Federer to win the 2009 US Open, was one of the favourites to win the men's singles title but the towering Argentine was unable to find an answer to Hewitt's counter-punches as the pair slugged it out like two heavyweight boxers.

"It's amazing," Hewitt said on-court. "I was pumped up when I won my first-round match because I knew I was playing Del Potro and we could be on Arthur Ashe (Stadium).

"I don't know how many years I have left in me so I was just hanging to get back on this court again."

Hewitt may no longer be as fast as he was when he upset Pete Sampras to win the final 12 years ago but the 32-year-old showed he had lost none of his combative spirit.

Scrambling around the centre court to keep up with his younger opponent, he fetched more balls than a golden retriever, and hit a string of inch-perfect winners.

His biggest flaw, however, remains his serve, which lacks the power of most of his opponents and it threatened to let him down.

After snatching the opening set, Hewitt, who also won Wimbledon in 2002, had a perfect opportunity to take a two-set lead.

He was just a point away on his own serve when he double-faulted. Del Potro went on to break him and take the set and seized the momentum.

The 24-year-old Del Potro, seeded sixth at Flushing Meadows, won the third set but was starting to run out of gas.

He found himself down a break in the fourth and although Hewitt failed to serve out the set, the Australian won the ensuing tie-breaker 7-2 to send the match into a deciding fifth set as the boisterous New York roared with approval.

Del Potro blinked first and Hewitt pounced to break his serve twice and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Argentine saved a match point on his own serve but double-faulted on the second as Hewitt celebrated a remarkable victory.

His prize for winning was a third-round clash with the unseeded Russian Evgeny Donskoy, who won his own five-set marathon against Germany's Peter Gojowczyk 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3, but Hewitt was not looking too far ahead as he soaked up the moment.

"A couple of years ago, when I had a couple of foot surgeries, I didn't know if I'd ever play tennis again," said Hewitt, who has fallen to 66th in the rankings.

"It was a hell of a lot of fun, I cherish every match I get. This is why I still play, to have moments like this."

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US Open - Hingis serves up double disappointment on return

US Open - Hingis serves up double disappointment on return

Two matches. Two full houses. Two losses. Martina Hingis proved she could still put backsides on seats in her return to the US Open, even if her service game recalled more the struggles of the past than the triumphs.

 

Hundreds of spectators were shut out of Court 17 for the 32-year-old's cameo in the women's doubles but her return to Grand Slam tennis, also incorporating an appearance in the mixed event, was blighted by a pair of defeats.

Sixteen years after winning her only US Open singles title, the woman once known as the "Swiss Miss" made two appearances at Flushing Meadows.

In the first, she partnered Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova against the top-seeded Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

The match ended in underwhelming fashion for Hingis, who served up consecutive double faults to seal a 6-3 7-5 loss.

Hingis was crestfallen.

She had received a massive cheer when introduced to the crowd and been the focus of all attention. The roars and groans from the bleachers matched her own fluctuating fortunes.

Hingis beamed whenever the old magic returned but this was no hit and giggle.

The former world number one argued with the umpire, bounced her racquet in frustration and clenched her fists throughout a determined effort.

Hingis dropped her opening service game in a tentative beginning. A hint of what would come.

There were flashes of the craftiness that landed her five major titles but her serve lacked punch.

Her physical fitness was evident to everyone who saw her.

Walking through the crowd to her first match, a large man stood in front of her and said: 'Jeez, you're looking good!'

Hingis later returned for a mixed doubles match under the Court Four floodlights with India's Mahesh Bhupathi against Sweden's Robert Lindstedt and Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan.

Again she served to stay in the match at 5-6 in the second set. She held.

Another defeat was on its way, however, when Hingis conceded two mini-breaks in the tie-breaker en route to a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) reverse.

She admitted nerves and relative poor fitness had contributed to her losses.

"My calf was killing me," she said. "I couldn't get up on my serve any more. And definitely the nerves. Not playing at a Grand Slam for six years doesn't help, either.

"I think it's because I just played a lot and my body's not used to it. I feel like I'm playing well but my body is screaming, 'What are you doing to me?'"

Hingis first retired in 2002, aged 22. She launched a full-scale comeback in 2006, but retired again in 2007. That same year, she admitted to having tested positive for cocaine.

By then, her finesse-based game and lack of serving penetration were proving ineffective against a powerful new generation led by Serena and Venus Williams.

She said she would continue playing with Hantuchova in tournaments in Asia, but dismissed out of hand a return to singles.

"God, give me a break," she said. "No, I haven't given any more thought to it. I have a hard enough time trying to cover half the court. Full court is a completely different ball game.

"But I always enjoyed the big stage, and you saw the people that came today. You don't see such a crowd in women's doubles, normally."

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US Open - Murray drops a set but still progresses

US Open - Murray drops a set but still progresses

Andy Murray dropped a set for the first time at this year's US Open but recovered quickly to ease his way into the third round.

 

The defending champion beat Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 7-5 6-1 3-6 6-1 in two hours and 41 minutes on a steaming hot day at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

It was clear the Scotsman was in for tough workout when he needed almost an hour to clinch the first set but he seemed to back in control when he raced through the second.

Mayer broke Murray's serve at the start of the second set and calmly held all of his own service games to push the match into a fourth set but the third seed regained control and ran away with it.

"It was a very tough match," said Murray, whose next opponent is Germany's Florian Mayer. "Both of us did a lot of running.

"I started to move better as the match went on. He's a big hitter of the ball and I had to defend a lot."

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US Open - Stephens beats fellow US hope Hampton

US Open - Stephens beats fellow US hope Hampton

Rising US player Sloane Stephens took care of business against Fed Cup team-mate and friend Jamie Hampton, powering her way to a 6-1 6-3 victory to earn a place in the round of 16 at the US Open.

 

In a showcase between two players among a promising group of emerging US women, 15th seed Stephens used a combination of bigger groundstrokes and more accurate serves to charge past an error-prone Hampton in 63 minutes.

"I just tried to play my best. It's tough playing Jamie, a good friend. Definitely a tough match to come out here on Ashe," said 20-year-old Stephens. "I just tried to stay focused and do my best and luckily got the 'W'."

Stephens, who burst into the international spotlight by upsetting Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and reached the last eight at Wimbledon, benefitted from 34 unforced errors from Hampton.

Stephens, who also reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the second successive year, put 70 percent of her first serves into play, while Hampton found the range on less than half of her first deliveries, putting her on the defensive.

Hampton, ranked 26th, broke serve in the sixth game of the second set to put it back on serve at 3-3, but at 30-30 in the next game she missed a backhand overhead volley and Stephens broke her one point later and did not lose another game.

Hampton, 23, had enjoyed an impressive stretch on tour, beating two seeded players at the French Open including 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to reach the fourth round. She made it to the Eastbourne final on grass and the semi-finals on the hard courts of Stanford.

The Americans had last played in the first round at Wimbledon, with Stephens winning 6-3 6-3.

Next up for Stephens could be another all-American clash as she faces either defending champion Williams or Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Stephens said her approach going forward would remain simple.

"Just play my best, play my game," she said. "All you can do is do your best and that's what I'm going to count on."

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US Open - Day six order of play

US Open - Day six order of play

Order of play for day six of the US Open, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka and surprise package Dan Evans on court.

 

Arthur Ashe Stadium

11am (4pm UK)

Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [13] vs. Christina McHale (USA)

Not before 1pm (6pm UK)

Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs. Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2]

7pm (midnight UK)

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [6] vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA)

Roger Federer (SUI) [7] vs. Adrian Mannarino (FRA)

Louis Armstrong Stadium

11am (4pm UK)

Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [14] vs. Simona Halep (ROU) [21]

Alize Cornet (FRA) [26] vs. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [2]

John Isner (USA) [13] vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [22]

Tommy Robredo (ESP) [19] vs. Daniel Evans (GBR)

Grandstand

11am (4pm UK)

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs. David Ferrer (ESP) [4]

Not before 1pm (6pm UK)

Jack Sock (USA) vs. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) [18]

Karin Knapp (ITA) vs. Roberta Vinci (ITA) [10]

Court 17

11am (4pm UK)

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [7] vs. Alison Riske (USA)

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [23] vs. Milos Raonic (CAN) [10]

Richard Gasquet (FRA) [8] vs. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) [32]

Court 11

11am (4pm UK)

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [27] vs. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

Julia Glushko (ISR) vs. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)

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US Open - Djokovic shrugs off slow start to speed into third round

US Open - Djokovic shrugs off slow start to speed into third round

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic saved two set points in the opening set but lost just four games the rest of the way in beating Germany's Benjamin Becker 7-6 (2) 6-2 6-2 on Friday to reach the third round of the U.S.

 

 

Djokovic was broken in the ninth game of the first set to fall behind 4-5, but broke right back and forced a tie-breaker, which he won 7-2 before cruising the rest of the way.

The 26-year-old Serb said he had trouble with his footwork in the tricky conditions against a dangerous opponent in 87th-ranked Becker, best known for beating Andre Agassi at the 2006 US Open in the last match of the American's career.

"It was a struggle," Djokovic, the 2011 US Open winner, said about the opening set.

"I tried to move him around the court...that was my tactics.

"But it was very tough. It was a lot of unforced errors, very windy conditions."

Djokovic made an uncharacteristic 18 unforced errors in the first set before getting comfortable with his approach on the blustery court - an adjustment that might pay dividends as the tournament progresses.

"It was a lot of wind, wind that is not consistent. It changes direction all the time, you have to be alert," added Djokovic, stressing the importance of being balanced when attacking the ball.

"You need to have this adjustment, footwork, steps, in order to get on the ball. I didn't have that in the first set."

Djokovic adapted and after the 52-minute first set struggle won the next two sets in a total of 59 minutes.

"After I played a good tiebreak, then everything kind of settled. I started to serve better," said Djokovic, who belted in 13 aces.

"I started to step into the court, which is important." Djokovic, who lost in five sets to Andy Murray in last year's final in Flushing Meadows, has designs on adding to his haul of six Grand Slam titles.

"My game is getting there. I feel that it was a big test for me today. It was a challenge and I needed to overcome it."

Djokovic will next face either Finland's Jarkko Nieminen or Portugal's Joao Sousa.

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