Nadal breezes into US Open fourth round
Osaka brings Gauff’s NY run to a halt; Kyrgios sent packing
NEW YORK, Sept 1, (RTRS): Rafael Nadal cruised into the US Open fourth round with a business-like 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Chung Hyeon on Saturday.
The three-times champion took control of the match when he broke the South Korean’s serve in the first set to grab a 4-2 lead and never looked back on a sunsoaked Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Next up for Nadal is a last 16-clash with 2014 champion Marin Cilic, who came out on top in his slugfest with John Isner on the Grandstand court.
Nadal had been on court for just over two hours prior to his third round match after defeating John Millman in straight sets on Tuesday before getting a walkover into the third round when Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew.
The second seeded Spaniard, who has been hampered by troublesome knees throughout his career, did not wear his usual tape on his legs during the match.
“Tape is not working anymore,” he said with a smile during his on-court interview.
“I am happy to be playing on hardcourts and I am trying to play a little more aggressive.
Nadal will have his work cut out when he meets big-serving Cilic on Monday, who defeated Isner 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.
Nadal said the key was to toppling an opponent like Cilic was holding serve and making the most of his opportunities when receiving.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka brought American teen Coco Gauff’s captivating US Open run to a swift end with a 6-3, 6-0 win on Saturday to secure her spot in the fourth round.
World number one Osaka, who backed up last year’s New York triumph with a win at the Australian Open but has since had an up-anddown season, simply overwhelmed her 15-year-old opponent in the marquee match-up under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights.
“For me, I think this was the most focused I’ve been since Australia,” Osaka said in an on-court interview, with Gauff standing beside her. “So, sorry for playing you with this type of mentality.”
Gauff, who stunned the tennis world by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, committed seven double faults and was error prone throughout the match.
Osaka set the tone early in the most hyped match of the tournament so far as the 21-year-old Japanese consolidated an early break for a 3-0 lead.
Gauff, in only her sixth Grand Slam match, then fired back-to-back aces to finally get on the board and from there the two exchanged breaks over the next four games before Osaka recovered from 0-30 to serve out the set.
Gauff, still unable to find any rhythm on her serve, made a pair of double faults en route to gifting Osaka a break to open the second set before the Japanese rallied back from 0-40 to consolidate for a 2-0 lead and then raced home from there.
Nick Kyrgios’ eventful US Open ended in the third round as Russian Andrey Rublev turned aside the fiery Australian 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 in a battle of big servers on Saturday.
Rublev looked up to the task from the start and proved to be unflappable against Kyrgios, who complained to his team in the box several times about not being able to see and later said he took time adjusting to the massive Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Australian seemed to have no issues with his vision on serve, however, at one point firing four consecutive aces in a 40-second game to force a first-set tie-break. He saved two set points before sending a backhand just wide to lose the opener.
Kyrgios got his only two break point chances while leading 3-2 in the second set but Rublev beat them both back.
The pair remained on serve to bring up another tie-break and while Kyrgios jumped out to a 4-0 lead a determined Rublev took seven of the next eight points to snatch the set and grab control of the match.
“I had chances. I just didn’t take them,” said Kyrgios. “Nowhere near my best tennis, but it is what it is.”
The final set was on serve until Rublev got the only break of the match and immediately consolidated for a 5-2 lead that sent him on his way.
Kyrgios lost despite powering down 30 aces to Rublev’s 12 and winning almost 90% of his first-serve points while saving three of the four break points he faced.
“His serve is the best on tour. I was just trying to focus on me to serve also well to keep my serve and see if I win tie-breaks or not,” said Rublev. “Today was my day and I am happy.”
Rublev came into the year’s final Grand Slam with plenty of confidence after he earned the biggest win of his career when he beat Roger Federer in the third round at Cincinnati.
German sixth seed Alexander Zverev advanced to the fourth round of the US Open for the first time with a 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene on Saturday.
Zverev, who is the next highest seeded player left in the bottom half of the draw after Rafa Nadal, won six of the last seven points in the final-set tiebreak to close out the win.
The 22-year-old German fired down 25 aces and won 80% of his first-serve points as he improved his head-to-head record with Bedene to 4-0.
Up next for Zverev, who could meet Nadal in the quarter-finals, will be either 20th seed Argentine Diego Schwartzman or American Tennys Sandgren.
Canadian Bianca Andreescu brushed aside Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to reach the last 16 in her US Open main draw debut and now faces her toughest test yet in the form of net-rushing qualifier Taylor Townsend.
Andreescu, who has already won titles at Indian Wells and Toronto during an injury-hit 2019 season, beat twice finalist Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4 to remain undefeated in completed matches since early March.
“It feels pretty good, because you never know what can happen in a match,” said Andreescu. “I’m trying not to take anything for granted right now. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
The 19-year-old Canadian, who has yet to drop a set at the year’s final Grand Slam, overwhelmed former world number one Wozniacki with a mix of variety and firepower.
Andreescu’s nerve was tested early in the second set when Wozniacki rallied back from a double-break down to level at 3-3 but the Canadian was unrattled and broke right back and then served her way to the win.
Things could get much trickier for Andreescu when she faces Townsend, whose aggressive net play has left a trail of frustrated opponents, including Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, who was dumped out in the second round.
Andreescu said she has never played anyone who comes to the net on virtually every point like 23-year-old Townsend but is ready to put in the work ahead of their Monday clash.