Del Potro sets up Federer showdown
Rublev becomes youngest quarterfinalist in 16 years
Juan Martin del Potro shrugged off sickness to save two match points and defeat Dominic Thiem in a five-set US Open epic on Monday to book a quarterfinal showdown with five-time champion Roger Federer.
Argentine 24th seed Del Potro claimed a heroic 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 victory over the sixth-seeded Austrian.
Del Potro famously defeated Federer in the 2009 final for his only career Grand Slam title before his career was almost torpedoed by a succession of wrist surgeries.
Federer, the third seed, eased into the last eight with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber, taking his record over the German veteran to 12-0.
Elsewhere, top seed Rafael Nadal claimed his 50th win at the US Open and will meet Russian teenager Andrey Rublev.
In the women’s event, world No.1 Karolina Pliskova set up a quarterfinal date against American CoCo Vandeweghe.
Estonia’s world No.418 Kaia Kanepi also reached the quarterfinals, just the second qualifier to make the last eight.
But the day belonged to Del Potro, who celebrated his win, which came off a Thiem double fault, by stretching out his arms, head facing the night sky, as his legion of fans celebrated wildly.
“Oh my God,” said Del Potro, who had been 2-5 down in the fourth set.
“I was sick the last two days. I came here trying to play the best I can and then when I see this crowd cheering for me, I was trying to play better every game. I will always remember this.”
Federer has a 16-5 advantage over Del Potro but they have split their last six meetings.
The 36-year-old Swiss maestro didn’t face a break point against Kohlschreiber with his biggest challenge having to take a medical timeout off court at the end of the second set.
World No.1 Nadal, who could meet Federer for the first time in New York in the semifinals, crushed Ukraine’s Alexander Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. The 31-year-old Spaniard goes on to face Russian 19-year-old Rublev, who stunned Belgian ninth seed David Goffin 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to become the youngest quarterfinalist since Andy Roddick in 2001.
Rublev, ranked No.53, has won 13 of his last 17 matches after breaking the top 100 for the first time in June.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Kanepi, a former world No.15 whose career was almost ended by illness and a crippling injury, downed Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-4.
She will next face Madison Keys of the US, who put out fourth seed Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-4, ending the Ukrainian’s hopes of taking the world No.1 spot.
Top seed Pliskova, the runner-up in 2016, needed just 46 minutes to sweep past American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 6-0 and make her third Slam quarterfinal of the year.