Nadal, Serena, Del Potro advance into 4th round
NEWYORK: World No 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal came back from a set and break down to defeat Karen Khachanov 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) and reach the US Open fourth round on Friday. Victory for the 32-year-old Nadal put him into the last 16 in New York for the 10th time and on course to add to his 2010, 2013 and 2017 titles.
Top seeded Nadal triumphed over Khachanov after an epic four hour, 23 minute struggle on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But the 22-year-old Russian had his chances. He served for a two sets to love lead in the 10th game of the second set and had set point in the fourth-set tiebreaker.
Nadal, seeking an 18th major, will face Georgia’s world number 37 Nikoloz Basilashvili for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Georgian won just one game in a three-set loss to Nadal in their only previous meeting at Roland Garros last year.
Basilashvili reached the last-16 of a Slam for the first time by seeing off Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4).
Former champion Juan Martin del Potro put on assured display to register a straight-sets victory over Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco in their third round encounter.
Verdasco lasted two hours and 59 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium before he eventually succumbed 7-5 7-6(8) 6-3 as the clock ticked past midnight at Flushing Meadows.
ALL-WILLIAMS CLASH IS ALL SERENA
Serena Williams turned her 30th career meeting with her sister Venus into a one-woman showcase
Friday, reaching the US Open fourth round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Reluctantly rising to an occasion neither sister enjoys, Serena said she played her best match since she returned in March, more than six months after giving birth to daughter Olympia last September 1.
“I played much better tonight than I have since I started this
journey on my way back,” said Serena, although she wasn’t sure she’d agree with Venus’s assessment that it was the best match she’d ever played against her sister.
Either way, the scoreline equalled Serena’s most lopsided victory over Venus, and took her head-to-head record against her sister to 18-12.
PANDEY REPLACES RAINA; RAYUDU IN
The main concern for India going into the tournament is their middle-order, for which the selectors have named the in-form Ambati Rayudu and Manish Pandey, who replaced Suresh Raina and Shreyas Iyer.
Despite an impressive Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Rayudu missed the limited-overs series against England for failing the Yo-yo test.
Besides clearing the much-debated fitness parameter later, Rayudu was in excellent form in the recently-concluded quadrangular series, involving the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sides from India, Australia and South Africa, scoring 187 runs in four matches with two half-centuries.
Pandey, who last played an ODI in December 2017, was the leading run-getter in the quadrangular series with 306 runs in four matches, including a century and two half-centuries.