SPORTS

US Open PHOTOS: Wozniacki, Vinci, Monfils through to quarters

September 05, 2016

IMAGE: Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki celebrates her win over USA's Madison Keys during her fourth round match on Sunday. Photograph: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

There was no great escape this time for Madison Keys as a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki locked the eighth seeded American out of the US Open quarter-finals with a tidy 6-3, 6-4 win on Sunday.

Wozniacki, a US Open finalist in 2009 and 2014 but unseeded this year after being sidelined for two months by an ankle injury, dominated from the start and wrapped up victory in a speedy 78 minutes on a sun-splashed Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

After rallying from a set and a break down in her opening match and then coming back from 5-1 down in the third to beat Japan's Naomi Osaka, Keys could not find a way round the former world number one, who took no chances closing out the match on her first match point.

Next up for the 74th ranked Dane is Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.

IMAGE: Italy's Roberta Vinci returns a shot to Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko during her fourth round Women's Singles match on Day Seven of the 2016 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at the Flushing Meadows in New York City on Sunday. Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images

Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci was first through to the US Open quarter-finals, taming Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 7-6(5), 6-2 on Sunday.

At number 99 the lowest ranked player to make it through to the last 16, Tsurenko represented a tricky test for last year's US Open runner-up having knocked off 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova and 21st seed Irina-Camelia Begu to get to the fourth round.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian looked prepared to add another seeded scalp to her Flushing Meadows collection as she forced the first set to a tie-break before surrendering 7-5.

After a draining 67-minute opening set, Tsurenko had little left in the tank for the second and Vinci stamped her authority on the match quickly by going up a break and cruising to an easy win to clinch a spot in the last eight for the third time in four years.

Latvia's Sevastova beats Konta to reach last eight

IMAGE: Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova celebrates after defeating Britain's Johanna Konta. Photograph: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Anastasija Sevastova, who quit tennis because of injury in 2013, became the first Latvian woman to reach the US Open quarter-finals since 1994 when she beat Britain's 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday.

The unseeded 26-year-old, who defeated third seed Garbine Muguruza in round two, held off a late fightback from Konta to reach the last eight of a grand slam for the first time.

Sevastova was out of the game for 20 months until the start of last year, having announced her retirement in May 2013 after a series of injuries.

In a topsy-turvy match, containing 12 breaks of serve, Sevastova had match point at 5-3 and another at 5-4 only for Konta to break back for 5-5.

But the Latvian regained her composure in time to hold serve and then break Konta, who was appearing in the last 16 for the second consecutive year, to clinch victory.

Konta was bidding to become the first British woman to reach the quarter-finals in New York since Jo Durie in 1983.

Monfils kicks off busy French day with win over Baghdatis

 

IMAGE: France's Gael Monfils reaches for a forehand against Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis on Sunday. Photograph: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Tenth seed Gael Monfils motored into the US Open quarter-finals with a straight-sets dismissal of Marcos Baghdatis on Sunday at the year's last grand slam championship.

Monfils, who has enjoyed a run of success this hard court season, maintained his impressive form with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 romp that kicked off a busy day for the French men's contingent at Flushing Meadows.

Monfils, playing a familiar foe, was well prepared for his round of 16 test and executed his game plan.

"He's a good friend, I know him for a long time," said the 30-year-old Monfils.

"We had many battles in juniors and we have many also on the senior tour.

"I had to be very consistent with my serve because he's a pretty good returner. I was very fast on the baseline, so I guess everything was fine today."

Monfils served up nine aces and gave himself a cushion with six service breaks against the Cypriot, who put only 36 percent of his first serves in play.

In the last couple of months, the Frenchman has posted a 17-2 record, winning the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career at the 500 level tournament in Washington, reaching the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Toronto and advancing to the quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics.

The 31-year-old Baghdatis, runner-up this season in Dubai and a semi-finalist in Newport, was making his first fourth-round showing in a grand slam since the 2009 Australian Open.

Monfils will play either fourth-seeded Nadal or compatriot Pouille for a place in the semi-finals.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email