Wozniacki, Vinci into US Open fourth round

NEW YORK — Former runners-up Caroline Wozniacki and Roberta Vinci reached the US Open last-16 Friday. Wozniacki, who knocked out ninth-seeded former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, clinched a seventh win in seven meetings over unorthodox Monica Niculescu of Romania. The Dane's 6-3, 6-1 victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium, which featured eight breaks of serve, was another noise-affected affair. But instead of a din caused by chattering fans or rain on the roof, this time it concerned Wozniacki complaining that her opponent was making too much noise every time she employed her bizarre forehand slice. The former world NO. 1's complaints helped extend the crucial ninth game of the opening set to 12 minutes. "It's fun but also frustrating," said 2009 and 2014 runner-up Wozniacki of her opponent's unusual style. "She makes you feel as if you can't play tennis. You have to grind it out; it's not pretty but you get a good workout as you have to run a lot." Wozniacki, whose ranking has slipped to 74 after a long absence to fight an ankle injury, goes on to face either US eighth seed Madison Keys or Naomi Osaka of Japan for a quarterfinal slot. Vinci, the Italian seventh seed and runner-up to compatriot Flavia Pennetta in 2015, overcame a second set blip to defeat 21-year-old Carina Witthoeft 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. The 33-year-old Vinci led 5-4, 30-0 in the second set before her 84th-ranked German opponent dug deep to take the tie into a decider. But Vinci prevailed on the back of 40 winners and will meet either Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova or Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine for a quarter-finl place. Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova backed up her shock win over third seed and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza by making the last 16 for the first time with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kateryna Bonaderenko of the Ukraine. World NO. 48 Sevastova, who briefly retired from the sport in 2013, has matched her best run at a Slam — a fourth round spot at the Australian Open in 2011. On Thursday, Wimbledon champions Serena Williams and Andy Murray raised the roof at the US Open, powering into the third round with decisive straight-sets victories. World No. 1 Serena defeated fellow American Vania King 6-3, 6-3, her 306th Grand Slam singles match win tying her with Martina Navratilova for the most ever for a woman. “This one’s kind of cool,” she said of her latest milestone, “to win 306.” There could be more history in store for Serena as she seeks a seventh US Open title and a 23rd Grand Slam singles crown, both of which would be Open Era records. She fired 13 aces, with a total of 38 winners against 87th-ranked wild card King, and said the troublesome right shoulder that has hindered her since Wimbledon wasn’t a problem. “So far, so good,” said Serena, who was cheered on by rap mogul Jay Z and his pop superstar wife Beyonce as she booked a meeting with 47th-ranked Swede Johanna Larsson for a place in the last 16. Despite wrapping up the victory in just 65 minutes, Serena said there was plenty of room for improvement. By the time Serena opened the night session the rain that prompted organizers to close the new roof on Arthur Ashe stadium had tailed off. Murray had played with it drumming on the roof, adding to the noise the US Open is famous for. “You can’t hear anything, really,” said Murray, who downed tenacious Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. “I mean, you could hear the line calls, but not so much when he was hitting the ball or even when you’re hitting the ball, really, which is tough.” Nevertheless, after needing seven set points to seal the first frame, Murray broke Granollers twice in the second set and once in the third to move through to a meeting with Italian Paolo Lorenzi, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3) winner over France’s Gilles Simon. Juan Martin del Potro, who has undergone four wrist surgeries since lifting the US Open trophy in 2009, closed out the action on Ashe with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-2 victory over 19th seeded American Steve Johnson. Del Potro, ranked 142nd in the world as he battles back from the injuries that nearly cost him his career, is back in the Open as a wildcard after a sparkling run to a silver medal in the Rio Olympics. As the showers lingered, a batch of doubles matches scheduled for outside courts were cancelled. Among those who didn’t have the luxury of the roof, 2014 finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan waited out a third-set rain delay en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 20-year-old Russian qualifier Karen Khachanov. Third-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka, a two-time semi-finalist, was also up against a qualifier, advancing with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 victory over 243rd-ranked Italian Alessandro Giannessi. Eighth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem downed Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to line up a meeting with Spain’s Pablo Carreno-Busta, who rallied from two sets down to beat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Australian Nick Kyrgios, the 14th seed, put on a serving clinic, firing 27 aces and winning 45 of 48 first-serve points in a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos. Women’s fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland survived an early onslaught from US Open debutant Naomi Broady to beat the Briton 7-6 (11/9), 6-3. Fired-up fifth seed Simona Halep also advanced, downing Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of former French Open finalists. Venus Williams, the sixth seed whose seven Grand Slam titles include two US Opens, coasted to the 70th US Open match win of her career 6-2, 6-3 win over Germany’s Julia Goerges. The elder Williams, bedeviled by 63 unforced errors in a scrappy first-round win over Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova, cut that to 17 in a crisp performance against the 64th-ranked German. China’s Zhang Shuai eased to a 6-3, 6-3 second round win over the 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia. Tomic fined $10,000 Bernard Tomic was sent packing early at the US Open and his minimal earnings were offset by a $10,000 fine levied on him for a crude on-court outburst he directed at a heckler during his first-round loss. The Australian, angered by a heckler in the stands during his upset loss to world No. 72 Damir Dzumhur Tuesday, was caught on camera directing a number of sexually explicit comments toward someone in the crowd. His fine was the heaviest so far at the championships, where 15 infractions were punished by tournament officials with fines totaling $35,600 through the first three days of main-draw competition. — Agencies