Wawrinka rolls into third round
Murray moans about the noise
TWO-TIME Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka rallied from 5-2 down in the second set to clinch victory over Italian Alessandro Giannessi and reach the third round of the US Open.
After dominating the opening set, the third-seeded Swiss battled back to force a tiebreak and then broke the Italian in the final game of the match to finish a 6-1 7-6 7-5 victory.
“I was trying to be a little more aggressive,” said Wawrinka, who blasted 57 winners, including 26 off his forehand.
Wawrinka will now face either Germany’s 27th seed Alexander Zverev or unseeded Briton Daniel Evans.
Wild card Juan Martin del Potro showed himself a force to be reckoned with at Flushing Meadows as the Argentinian swept aside American Steve Johnson to reach the third round.
Del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open in a thrilling five-setter over Roger Federer, has come through a long battle with a left wrist injury that has dropped him to 142 in the rankings. The power hitter now appears back to full strength coming off a rousing silver medal performance at the Rio Olympics.
In Rio, del Potro beat world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round, 14-time Major winner Rafa Nadal in the semifinals and battled Andy Murray to four tough sets in the final.
Del Potro, playing the final match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium, was competing on centre court in Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2013. “It’s amazing, the stadium. It’s amazing the atmosphere out there,” del Potro said on court after his emphatic 7-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
The big Argentinian belted 15 aces past 19th seed Johnson and yielded only one break of serve in the two hour, nineminute match.
“I’m trying to play as I did in 2009 but it’s not easy, I’m getting older,” said de Potro, 27. “But I’m so happy to be here.”
Meanwhile, Andy Murray said yesterday the noise cre- ated by the new retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium is a distraction to players and makes it difficult to react to opponents’ shots.
But the British second seed managed to shut out the noise and won overcame Spain’s Marcel Granollers during a 6-4 6-1 6-4 second-round victory played while rain beat down on the closed roof and crowd noise reverberated inside.
The Wimbledon and Olympic champion ground down the world No 45 in a match involving numerous lung-busting rallies and played under a cacophony of sound with the $150 million roof closed from the start.
“It’s because we use our ears when we play,” Murray said, explaining the difficulty. “It’s not just the eyes. It helps us pick up the speed of the ball, the spin that’s on the ball, how hard someone’s hitting it. If we played with our ears covered or with headphones on, it would be a big advantage if your opponent wasn’t wearing them.”
At times, the players could barely hear the ball off their strings and the rain hammering on the roof was almost deafening but Murray kept calm to clinch a convincing victory.
“At first we didn’t know if there was just more people come in at the change of ends, but then we quickly realised it was the rain,” Murray said.
But the Scot, chasing his fourth Grand Slam title, said players will cope with the extra noise.
“As an athlete, that’s what you do. We adjust to conditions, different conditions every week,” said Murray.
“I’m sure if the feedback is that the TV or the spectators aren’t enjoying the match as much then they will look into it and try and change it.
“But if it’s fine on TV, which from what I have heard it is, I don’t know what the fans have said about it yet, but the players will adjust.”
Murray, US Open champion in 2012 and chasing a fourth grand slam title, will now play either 30th seed Gilles Simon or unseeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
AFTER 17 trips to Flushing Meadows and six US Open titles Serena Williams did something yesterday she had never done before – win a match indoors.
With the new high-tech retractable roof slammed shut because of persistent rain, Williams swept past American compatriot Vania King 6-3 6-3 in a tidy 65 minutes to ease into the third round.
“It was a little different playing with Ashe closed but it still feels great,” said Williams. “It’s very, very loud out there.
“It’s definitely different because everywhere you play is really quiet. Here it’s super loud.”
Indoors or outdoors, night or day, rain or shine, it has made little difference to Williams at the US Open, the 34-year-old having now racked up 86 victories at Flushing Meadows. – Reuters