The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Young Briton Kyle Edmund’s US Open run over as he retires with neck injury
Shock defeat for Marin Cilic throws bottom-half of men’s draw wide open
MEN’S SINGLES
Kyle Edmund’s US Open run ended in tears when he retired with a neck injury in the fourth set of his third-round match against Denis Shapovalov.
Meanwhile, there is guaranteed to be a first-time Grand Slam finalist after Marin Cilic’s defeat by Diego Schwartzman blew the bottom half of the men’s draw wide open.
Edmund, Britain’s lone singles representative in the last 32, won the first set against 18-year-old Canadian prodigy Shapovalov at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But Shapovalov fought back to level, and Edmund’s chance went when he appeared to hurt his neck in the fifth game of the third set.
He received three bouts of treatment but was clearly hampered and did not win another game before pulling the plug with Shapovalov leading 3-6 6-3 6-3 1-0.
It was Edmund’s 10th match in 14 days after reaching the semi-finals of the Winston-Salem Open and his heavy schedule perhaps caught up him.
Shapovalov, meanwhile, becomes the youngest man to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since Marat Safin at the French Open in 1998 and has a great opportunity to go further in a wide open section of the draw.
It was a sign of Shapovalov’s star power at such a tender age and playing in only his second Grand Slam tournament that this match was scheduled on Flushing Meadows’ centre court.
Edmund was clearly very upset to see his tournament ended in such a manner, for he would have fancied his chances of going much further.
The 22-year-old left the court in tears but can hold his head high, with the last two weeks another sign that, when Andy Murray does retire, British men’s tennis is in steady hands.
Edmund’s exit, though, made it the first time a British singles player has failed to reach the second week at a Slam since the French Open in 2013, when Murray also pulled out.
Andy Murray’s withdrawal had left Cilic as the only player in that section to have won one of the sport’s biggest titles and one of only three previous slam finalists.
But the Croatian came into the tournament having not played a match since losing the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer because of an adductor problem.
The lack of match play appears to have cost him dearly, with Argentinian Schwartzman winning 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-4.
It was a landmark victory for Schwartzman, one of the smallest men on the tour at 5ft 7in, who is through to the fourth round at a Slam for the first time.
He, along with all the other players in the half, will now see it as a huge opportunity to go all the way to the final.
Only Sam Querrey has even made a Slam semi-final, while his fellow American John Isner is the highest seed left at 10.
Meanwhile, a semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continued to look a long way away as the Spaniard followed his rival in labouring into the third round.
Federer has been taken to five sets in both his first two matches at Flushing Meadows, with the night session on Thursday delayed by his latest struggle against Mikhail Youzhny.
Nadal did not begin his clash against Japan’s Taro Daniel until after 9.30pm and it was nearly three hours later when he was finally able to celebrate a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.
The top seed was more impressive than Federer, with his forehand warming up nicely as the match went on, but the feeling remains that this is the most open men’s Grand Slam in years.
Nadal next meets Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.