Nadal tested in match lasting more than 4 hours

Rafael Nadal’s knee was bothering him. His decadeyounger, barrel-chested U.S. Open foe was bashing the ball.

The defending champion was two points away from falling into a two-set hole. Then he was two points away from dropping the third set. And then he was one point from losing the fourth set and being pushed to a fifth.

As all of those key moments presented themselves, he managed to come through. The No. 1-ranked Nadal overcame a shaky start Friday and used his customary relentless style to wear down No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov physically and mentally, eventually getting to the fourth round with an entertaining and back-andforth 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) victory that took 4 hours, 23 minutes.

“I escaped a very tough situation,” Nadal said, “so it’s a great thing.”

In sum, he handled the particularly crucial points better than Khachanov did.

The man Nadal beat in last year’s final at Flushing Meadows, No. 5 Kevin Anderson, got through his own tough test against an up-and-coming opponent, edging No. 28 Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

After Nadal finished, Ashe was the site for Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams, Part 30. It’s their earliest meeting at a Grand Slam tournament in 20 years.

In other men’s action, Dominic Thiem also won a lengthy match to reach the fourth round.

The No. 9 seed beat American Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a match that lasted 3 hours, 19 minutes.

Each of the last two sets took more than an hour before Thiem moved on to a matchup with Anderson.

Thiem won a five-set match that lasted 3:34 against another American, Steve Johnson, in the previous round.

In women’s action, No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina reached the U.S. Open’s fourth round for the second consecutive year, eliminating 52nd-ranked Wang Qiang 6-4, 6-4.

Svitolina will try to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament for the fourth time when she faces No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova on Sunday.

Defending U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens grabbed the last three games after a brief break while the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was shut because of a light rain and beat two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

Stephens had gone from leading 3-1 to trailing 4-3 in the second set when drops fell and the decision was made to close the arena.

The No. 3 seed Stephens will face No. 15 Elise Mertens next.

Mertens continued her breakthrough season with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 23 Barbora Strycova.

Mertens had never won a match at Flushing Meadows until this week.

The 22-year-old Belgian has now completed a full set of career-best showings at each Grand Slam tournament in 2018. She got to the semifinals at the Australian Open, the fourth round at the French Open and the third round at Wimbledon.