Dimitrov Holds Off Sousa Fightback

Dimitrov Holds Off Sousa Fightback

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Andy Murray wins but Dan Evans loses thriller at US Open

Dan Evans failed to take a match point as he lost a five-set thriller to third seed Stan Wawrinka at the US Open.

Evans, seeking to become the fourth Briton to reach the fourth round, had match point in the fourth set tie-break but Wawrinka saved it and came back to win 4-6 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (10-8) 6-2.

Earlier world number two Andy Murray beat 34-year-old world number 40 Paolo Lorenzi 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2 6-3.

He joined Friday’s winners Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta in the last 16.

The last time Britain had three players in the fourth round of a Grand Slam was when John Lloyd, Anne Hobbs and Jo Durie got to that stage at the 1985 Australian Open.

The last time there were two British men in the fourth round of a major tournament was at Wimbledon in 2002 when Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski did so, while it is 50 years since two made the last 16 of the US Open.

Wawrinka ‘lucky’ to get through

Evans’ match point arrived in the fourth set tie-break but the Swiss saved it with a volley and then created a set point of his own with a cross-court backhand.

The Briton saved it with a volley of his own, but at 7-7 he failed to finish a smash.

Wawrinka had a second chance to serve out and then a third at 9-8, which he finally converted when Evans sent a forehand wide.

Evans, 26, looked mentally and physically exhausted in the fifth as Wawrinka moved 4-0 clear and the two-time Grand Slam champion served out for victory after four hours and three minutes.

“I am lucky to get through that match, serving against match point,” Wawrinka said.

“It was a tough battle. He played really great, he is talented, was pushing me a lot and I feel amazing to come through this.”

Evans had never made the fourth round of a major tournament before but the world number 64 has enjoyed a remarkable rise, climbing into the top 100 in May having been ranked 772nd last year.

Wawrinka will play either Australia’s Nick Kyrgios or Illya Marchenko of Ukraine for a place in the quarter-finals.

I was going for too many shots – Murray

Murray, vying to become just the fourth man to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a calendar year, looked in commanding form in his first two matches but struggled against an inspired Italian opponent.

He made 47 errors in the first two sets before turning the match around with a change of tactics.

“I stopped rushing in the rallies. I was making quite a few unforced errors,” said Murray after finally seeing off Lorenzi after three hours and 17 minutes.

“I was trying to get cheap points, I was going for too much.

“When I slowed things down and waited for the right shot to go for, my unforced errors went down, the winners went up and the scoreboard started working in my favour.”

The Olympic champion, 29, now faces Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

Lorenzi rocks Murray’s composure

Lorenzi won his first ATP title in July but had only won two Grand Slam singles matches in 13 years before arriving at Flushing Meadows.

The Italian, who won a five-set marathon over 30th seed Gilles Simon on Thursday, frustrated Murray with his energy and accuracy.

After losing a first-set tie-break, Lorenzi deservedly won the second with some superb tennis as Murray grew increasingly irritable with his error-strewn performance.

But the 2012 US Open champion pulled himself together, cut out the errors and dominated the third and fourth sets to finally secure victory.

Murray’s impressive numbers

• Won 25 out of 26 matches since the beginning of Queen’s Club in June
• Made the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 23rd consecutive tournament he’s played
• Has an 18-1 record against Italians since 2008 with his lone loss coming to Fognini in 2014 Davis Cup quarter-final
• Reached seven straight finals since the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid in May

Wildcard Del Potro powers through

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro reached the fourth round for the first time since 2012 with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-3 win over Spanish 11th seed David Ferrer.

Del Potro, the 2009 champion but now ranked 142 after a series of wrist injuries, will now face Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem – who celebrated his 23rd birthday with victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.

“It doesn’t matter if I win or lose,” said the 27-year-old Del Potro. “I just want to play my tennis again after so many problems.

“If I can hit my forehand again like I did in 2009, then it will be fun for everyone.”

Kei Nishikori, the sixth seed from Japan and a potential quarter-final opponent for Murray, beat France’s Nicolas Mahut 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.

He plays 21st-seeded Ivo Karlovic next after the Croat beat 19-year-old American qualifier Jared Donaldson to become the oldest man to reach the fourth round since Jimmy Connors was 39 in 1991.

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Lindstedt/Qureshi Oust Tenth Seeds

Lindstedt/Qureshi Oust Tenth Seeds

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US Open 2016: Kyle Edmund set for Novak Djokovic fourth-round match

Kyle Edmund says he will try to take the game to Novak Djokovic when he faces the world number one in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday.

The 21-year-old world number 84 has beaten two seeds to reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.

Edmund, whose match starts around 02:00 BST on Monday, said: “I’ll look to play aggressively as that’s my game.”

Fellow Brit Johanna Konta will bid for a quarter-final place when she plays Anastasija Sevastova at 16:00 BST.

Konta, the 13th seed, collapsed on court during her second-round victory over Tsvetana Pironkova but looked to have made a full recovery in an impressive third-round win over Belinda Bencic.

Sevastova, ranked 48 in the world, beat French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round before overcoming Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko in the third.

“I do know her and have been on court with her,” Konta said. “But that was a number of years ago.

“She’s obviously playing very good tennis and I have a lot of respect for her.”

Is Djokovic rusty?

Edmund will hope that the defending champion might be a little bit rusty after only playing one full match to reach the last 16.

Djokovic, who was troubled by an upper arm injury in his four-set victory over Jerzy Janowicz in the first round, has had two walkovers because of injuries to his opponents and completed just six games in the last two rounds.

But the 29-year-old Serb, a 12-time Grand Slam winner, argued the extra recovery could be beneficial.

“Considering the stage of the season and the amount of matches I’ve played, and what I’ve been through with my body, I think it’s actually good to have some days off and then shorter matches,” he said.

“The arm is doing very well. Everything is going in the right direction. I feel significantly better now than I did at the beginning of the tournament.”

Matches you dream about

Edmund lost 6-3 6-3 when he played Djokovic for the first time in Miami earlier this year, but said he had learnt a lot.

“He beat me in straight sets but I had some success,” said the British number four. “In the middle of the match I started taking it to him a bit more.

“That’s my game and that’s what I’ve been doing this tournament.

“These are the situations you want to be in, what you dream about, reaching the fourth round of a slam and now getting the opportunity to play the world number one.”

Losing is not the end of the world – Sevastova

Fed up with injuries, 26-year-old Sevastova retired from tennis in 2013 and decided to take up a course in management.

“I did some studying, played tennis with kids, gave some lessons,” Sevastova said. “It was strange. I didn’t find it that difficult to study but, yeah, it made me go back to tennis.”

Sevastova, who returned to the professional game in January last year, added: “After coming back of course you enjoy it when you win more.

“Now I can see there is life after tennis as well and if you lose a match it’s not the end of the world. The world does not collapse.”

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Rafael Nadal vs Lucas Pouille US Open 2016 Preview and Prediction

Rafael Nadal will play his first slam fourth round match in his last five slam events on Sunday, taking on France’s …

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Serena Williams powers into US Open fourth round

Serena Williams powered to a record 307th Grand Slam match win to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

The world number one moved ahead of Martina Navratilova for most match wins in a major by a woman, and tied Roger Federer’s mark for men with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Sweden’s Johanna Larsson.

“That’s pretty awesome and what a place to do it, where everything first started,” said the 34-year-old.

Serena won her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 1999.

“To be up there with both men and women is something that’s super rare, and it actually feels really good,” she added.

The American is bidding to claim a 23rd Grand Slam singles title, which would see her surpass Steffi Graf as the most successful woman in the Open Era.

The six-time US Open champion, whose number one ranking is under threat, next faces Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, a 6-2 7-5 winner over China’s Zhang Shuai.

Sister Venus Williams, the sixth seed and oldest woman in the tournament at 36, also went through with a 6-1 6-2 win over 26th seed Laura Siegemund of Germany.

Venus, who won back-to-back US Open titles in 2000 and 2001, will compete for a quarter-final berth against Czech 10th seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat 17th-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-4.

She will meet her sister Serena in the semi-finals if both continue their winning form.

‘Fighting to the end for every ball’

Fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania smashed her racquet in frustration before avoiding an upset by defeating Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-1 2-6 6-4.

Halep trailed 3-1 in the deciding set but fought back to reach the last 16.

“I don’t know how I came back. I felt like I didn’t play my best but I was fighting to the end for every ball,” she said.

Halep will play Spain’s 11th seed Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in the quarter-finals.

Suarez celebrated her 28th birthday with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Russian Elena Vesnina.

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland overcame France’s Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3 and will face Ana Konjuh of Croatia next.

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Juan Martin Del Potro vs David Ferrer US Open 2016 Preview

A match that really should be headlining Saturday night’s Arthur Ashe Stadium card, Juan Martin Del Potro…

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Simona Halep vs Timea Babos US Open 2016 Preview and Prediction

  Simona Halep will once again play early in New York as her and Timea Babos begin the day session on Arthur Ashe Stadium…

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US Open 2016: Johanna Konta reaches fourth round

Britain’s Johanna Konta produced a commanding display to beat Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-1 and secure her place in the US Open fourth round in New York.

Konta, showing no sign of the health issues that affected her during the second round, brushed aside the Swiss 24th seed in 52 minutes.

The 25-year-old, ranked 13, reached the fourth round last year and made the Australian Open semi-finals in January.

Fellow Briton Kyle Edmund also reached the last 16 by beating John Isner.

Edmund, one of three British men in the third round, overcame the big-serving American in four sets and will face Novak Djokovic in the last 16.

Konta served with pace and accuracy from the start to keep 19-year-old Bencic on the back foot and a run of seven unanswered games gave her complete control.

She did not give away a single break point, won 19 out of 20 points on her first serve and hit 29 winners to her opponent’s nine.

“I feel overwhelmingly happy,” said Konta, who faces Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the next round.

“I felt I did a good job playing the match at hand and I focused all my energies into this match. I was happy how I dealt with things.”

Konta had collapsed on court in her previous match and needed almost 15 minutes of treatment before feeling able to continue.

“I’m still recovering in every way,” she added. “I think it was quite a traumatic experience. I’m just still working on getting better.”

Sevastova, ranked 48 in the world, beat French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round before overcoming Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko 6-4 6-1 in the third.

If Konta comes through, she will face either Madison Keys or Caroline Wozniacki for a place in the semi-finals.

Analysis – Konta can challenge for titles

GB Davis Cup captain Leon Smith on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Johanna Konta has every shot needed and can definitely challenge for Grand Slam titles. It’s not just her ranking, it’s who she beats that makes you think that.

She creates good speed on the ball herself but she can cope with power and the ball that comes to her at pace. She has good racquet control, quick feet and good balance, and is keeping the momentum going from last year.

Keys needs her ‘greatest comeback’

American eighth seed Keys claimed a dramatic 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-3) win over a tearful Naomi Osaka of Japan.

Leading 5-1 in the final set and on the cusp of the biggest victory of her career, 81st-ranked Osaka crumbled as Keys took the next five games en route to a victory that left her 18-year-old opponent fighting back tears.

“This is the greatest comeback of my career, hands down,” said Keys.

Two-time US Open runner-up Wozniacki, now ranked 74, beat Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-1.

It is the first time since January the Dane has won three matches at the same tournament.

Kvitova eyes Kerber meeting

Petra Kvitova made the last 16 by beating Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-4 and will face second seed Angelique Kerber, who defeated 17-year-old American qualifier CiCi Bellis 6-1 6-1.

Roberta Vinci, the Italian seventh seed and runner-up to compatriot Flavia Pennetta in 2015, overcame Carina Witthoeft 6-0 5-7 6-3.

The 33-year-old Vinci will meet Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine for a quarter-final place.

Tsurenko, the world 99, made the last 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time by beating 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 3-6 6-3 6-4.

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Nadal Battles Into Second Week At The US Open

Nadal Battles Into Second Week At The US Open

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