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Frenchman upsets two-time champion
Lucas Pouille uncorked an unplayable forehand down the line, his 59th winner of the match, to see off No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6) in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday. The 22-year-old Frenchman, who collapsed to the ground after his shot landed just inside the sideline, reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam event for the second time in a row, and joined countrymen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils in the last eight. France had not had a trio of male players reach the quarter-finals of a major tournament since Roland Garros in 1947.
“For me, because I worked very hard, I’m feeling very confident, that’s why I’m here,” Pouille said. “For Jo and Gael it’s the same. They’re unbelievable players. They are at this level for many years now.”
Pouille will face Monfils in the US Open quarter-final and try to reach the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time. “He’s in very good form. He has won so many matches for the last two months. He’s very confident. He hasn’t lost a set, so I know it’s going to be hard,” Pouille said of Monfils. “But I’m playing well. I have good feelings on the court, so we’ll see. I think it’s going to be a tough match for me, but for him as well. It’s going to be interesting.”
No. 24 seed Pouille lost to Nadal in Monte-Carlo last year in the pair’s lone previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, but the right-hander started the match with no signs of being intimidated by the legendary Spaniard, who won the US Open title in 2010 and 2013. Pouille was a model of controlled aggression from both wings, pushing Nadal deep into the backcourt with angled drives and approaching the net 63 times (38/63). Nadal, too, mustered his best all-court tennis. He fired 52 winners and won 35 of 48 trips to the net.
Four hours of play decided nothing, so the outcome needed to be decided by the first fifth-set tie-break played on Arthur Ashe Stadium this fortnight. Pouille, who played 19 out of a possible 20 sets this week, showed signs of mental fatigue, dumping a mid-court forehand into the net on the opening point.
However, the rising star righted the ship and was soon up 6/3. On the brink of losing, Nadal showed his resilience by winning the next three points, but also missed a short forehand put-away at 6/6, a shot he has made a living dispatching.
“A big mistake, yeah. But you are six-all in the tiebreak. I played the right point. I put [myself] in a position to have the winner and I had the mistake,” Nadal said. “The problem is arriving to six-all on the tiebreak of the fifth. I should be winning before.”
The rare misstep from Nadal allowed Pouille to put the finishing touch on a remarkable victory. Pouille has now won three consecutive five-set matches, and is No. 5 in the Under Pressure Leaders category of the ATP Stats Leaderboards, powered by the Infosys Information Platform.
“I think because mentally I’m stronger, physically I’m stronger, [that] gave me a lot of confidence before the match,” Pouille said. “I knew if I wanted to win that, it’s not going to be like three sets, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. It would be long. So I was ready for it.”
Frenchman will face Djokovic or Edmund in QF
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended American hopes at the US Open as he defeated last man standing, Jack Sock, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2 in New York on Sunday.
The Frenchman had a match point in the third set but Sock saved it and looked to have the American crowd behind him heading into the pivotal fourth set. Tsonga broke the 23 year old twice in the final set to move into his second Grand Slam quarter-final of the season (Wimbledon, l. to Murray).
“It was really difficult because he played great in the third,” Tsonga said during his on-court interview with ESPN after the match. “I just tried to play my game in the fourth and that’s it. Stay focused on what I have to do.”
The Frenchman is looking to mount a late charge in the Emirates ATP Race To London and helped his cause by reaching the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the second year in a row.
Tsonga started the US Open at 16th in the year-to-date standings, just over 1000 points behind eighth-placed countryman Gael Monfils, who also advanced to the quarter-finals earlier with victory over Marcos Baghdatis.
View Emirates ATP Race To London
Tsonga fell in the last eight to Marin Cilic at the US Open last year and will look to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final since he made a run on home soil last year at Roland Garros (l. to Wawrinka).
The 31-year-old Tsonga controlled the contest with Sock during the first two sets, winning 85 per cent of his first-serve points (28/33) and hitting 28 winners to take a two-set lead. Sock rebounded in a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium, though, running around a Tsonga serve to hit a forehand winner and take the third set.
After the clean forehand, the Nebraska native, who was looking to reach his first career Grand Slam quarter-final, lifted his arms to try to rally the crowd. But Tsonga’s big-match experience paid off in the fourth as he did not face a break point in advancing.
The ninth seed goes on to face either World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic or #NextGen star Kyle Edmund. Asked on court if he’d like the two to endure a quick three-set match or a long five-set contest, Tsonga said, “Of course, a long five-set match. Really long. Really, really, really long,” he said in between laughs. “I’m in a quarter-final and now everything can happen, so I will give my best. I will fight for it, and we will see.”
Sock, No. 26 seed, was trying to become the first homegrown quarter-finalist in the US Open men’s draw since 2011, when Andy Roddick and John Isner reached the last eight.
France’s Lucas Pouille claimed the biggest victory of his career as he beat two-time champion Rafael Nadal 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) in a sensational four-hour last-16 match at the US Open.
The 22-year-old world number 25 hit a nerveless string of winners in the final-set tie-break to clinch his win.
He will play compatriot Gael Monfils after his win over Marcos Baghdatis.
Elsewhere Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also of France, ended American interest in the men’s singles by beating Jack Sock.
The ninth seed will play the winner of world number one Novak Djokovic and British number four Kyle Edmund’s meeting.
Frenchman yet to drop a set
Gael Monfils booked his spot in the US Open quarter-finals for the third time after dismissing Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday at Flushing Meadows.
The Frenchman is in keen contention to qualify for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 for the first time. Monfils is currently eighth in the Emirates ATP Race To London and boosted his bid with his fourth straight-sets win of the tournament in New York.
Watch: Improved Monfils In London Contention
The 30-year-old Monfils also reached the last eight at the US Open in 2010 (l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Federer) and goes on to face either Rafael Nadal or Lucas Pouille. The Frenchman was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in January (l. to Raonic) and is bidding to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2008 Roland Garros (l. to Federer).
Playing Baghdatis for the fourth time, Monfils improved to a 3-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head as he prevailed in just under two hours. The 10th-seeded Frenchman converted seven of his 11 break points and benefitted from 43 unforced errors from Baghdatis’ racquet as the Cypriot’s run came to an end.
“It’s always a pleasure to play against Marcos and you know you always have to play your best,” Monfils said in his on-court interview. “I think I had to be very consistent with my serve because he’s a pretty good returner. I was good on my forehand today and I was very fast on the baseline. Everything was good today.”
The 31-year-old Baghdatis posted his best Grand Slam result in seven years after reaching the fourth round of a major for the first time since the 2009 Australian Open. Baghdatis was runner-up in Melbourne in 2006 (l. to Federer).
| US Open fourth round: Grigor Dimitrov v Andy Murray |
|---|
| Date: Monday, 5 September Time: Approximately 00:00 BST |
| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York |
| Coverage: Live BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and text commentary on the BBC Sport website, app and connected TVs. |
Andy Murray says that the emergence of a generation of younger British players has helped push him to further heights.
Like Murray, Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta reached this year’s US Open fourth round, while Dan Evans came within a point of joining them before losing to third seed Stan Wawrinka.
“What I like most about practising with them is I have a responsibility to work hard and push myself,” Murray said.
Murray takes on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round on Monday.
| Top British players | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | World ranking | Women | World ranking |
| Andy Murray | 2 | Johanna Konta | 14 |
| Daniel Evans | 64 | Heather Watson | 73 |
| Aljaz Bedene | 77 | Naomi Broady | 82 |
| Kyle Edmund | 84 | Tara Moore | 171 |
The progress of Murray, Edmund and Konta to the fourth round marked the first time that three British singles players have advanced that far at a Grand Slam since 1964.
Since the end of August 2015, Evans has climbed 269 ranking spots, Konta – knocked out in round four by Anastasija Sevastova on Sunday – is up 84 places, while Edmund has risen 19.
Murray practises alongside Evans and Edmund at tournaments as well as during his January training block, and as part of Great Britain’s Davis Cup-winning team.
“I feel like when I’m on the court with them, I really want to work hard and show that this is what you have to do,” the world number two added.
“Maybe if it was someone from another country, I wouldn’t feel the same. I train better probably with them than I do with others, I think.”
Murray will come up against former coach Dani Vallverdu when he takes on world number 24 Dimitrov.
Murray and Vallverdu – who met as teenagers at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain – parted ways in November 2014 shortly after Murray added Amelie Mauresmo to his team.
Since then, Vallverdu has worked with Tomas Berdych for 18 months until May 2016 and Juan Martin Del Potro for a short stint at Wimbledon, before pairing up with Dimitrov.
“We’re still getting to know each other,” Dimitrov said of Vallverdu. “First of all he’s a great guy.
“I know how to play tennis. Now it’s more the strategic way, how you’re going to prepare for big matches, big tournaments.”
Dimitrov comes into his meeting with Murray on the back of a run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati that included a straight-sets win over world number three Stan Wawrinka.
“The last few weeks he has been playing very well, getting back to a level that he’s capable of playing at,” said Murray, who laboured to a four-set win over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in the third round.
“I expect it to be very hard. I’ll be ready for that. I’ll need to play better than Saturday if I want to win.”
British number one Johanna Konta has been knocked out of the US Open fourth round by Anastasija Sevastova.
The 13th seed lost 6-4 7-5 against the Latvian world number 48.
Konta trailed 4-1 in the second set and saved two match points en route to levelling at 5-5 but Sevastova broke serve to win on her third match point.
Sevastova, who retired in 2013 before making a comeback, will play eighth seed Madison Keys or Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals.
More to follow.
Swiss saves match point to move into second week
Stan Wawrinka was a point away from crashing out of the US Open, but came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 6-2 against Daniel Evans in the third round on Saturday. Evans held match point at 6/5 in the fourth-set tie-break, but the Swiss hung on and completed the comeback in just over four hours.
“I was frustrated, for sure, to be down two sets to one because I wasn’t playing my best tennis. But I still had a chance. So I was trying to find the right way, how to keep fighting; how to stay in the match,” Wawrinka said. “He was often coming to the net to try to finish the point. I had to play better, to be a little bit more aggressive.”
Wawrinka looked out of sorts after rolling an ankle early in the match. Intervention from the tournament physio allowed the No. 3 seed to continue, but it was the more aggressive Evans who controlled the run of play, approaching the net 63 times in total (41/63) to keep Wawrinka off-balance until the momentum shifted late in the match.
“I had the feeling in the fourth set that I was starting to play a little bit better. He was starting to be down a little bit, but still playing really well on those important points, still being there, still being tough. It wasn’t easy to stay calm with myself. But in general, I think that was the key to the match,” Wawrinka said.
The two-time Grand Slam champion’s experience and superior conditioning helped him win the day. Wawrinka gutted out the fourth-set tie-break, then broke his opponent three times in the deciding set to move into the second week in Flushing Meadows for the fifth consecutive year.
Next up for the 2015 semi-finalist will be Illya Marchenko, who won when No. 14 Nick Kyrgios retired down 4-6, 6-4 ,6-1. He becomes only the third Ukrainian, after Andrei Medvedev and Alexandr Dolgopolov, to reach the second week at a Grand Slam event. Kyrgios injured his hip in the second set and was limping noticeably before conceding the match after the third set. Wawrinka beat Marchenko 6-3, 6-2 at Indian Wells earlier this year in their lone previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.
After John Isner’s third round exit, Jack Sock is the home fan’s best hope of a deep run at this tournament in…