Del Potro lowest ranked US Open quarterfinalist in 25 years
Del Potro lowest ranked US Open quarterfinalist in 25 years
September 6, 2016 | 12:08 AM
Tennis: U.S. Open
September 6, 2016 | 12:08 AM
Last Updated: September 6, 2016 | 12:08 AM
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NEW YORK — Former champion Juan Martin del Potro became the lowest ranked player in 25 years to reach the US Open quarterfinals when Dominic Thiem quit their last-16 tie through injury Monday.
The 142nd-ranked Argentine was leading 6-3, 3-2 when the eighth-seeded Austrian retired with a right knee injury having received a medical timeout just moments earlier.
Del Potro, the 2009 champion who was pushed to the brink of retirement earlier this year after undergoing three surgeries on his left wrist, will face either Stan Wawrinka or Illya Marchenko for a semifinal place.
Jimmy Connors was ranked 174 when he went on to the US Open semifinals in 1991.
[caption id="attachment_82556" align="aligncenter"]
Simona Halep of Romania reacts after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in New York City Monday. — AFP[/caption]
"You never want to win a match like this. I wish Dominic a quick recovery as he has a great future," said 27-year-old del Potro.
The giant Argentine had required treatment himself on a right shoulder injury after dropping serve to go 2-1 down in the first set.
Should del Potro make the semifinals, he would be the lowest-ranked man to do so at a Grand Slam since 237-ranked Vladimir Voltchkov at Wimbledon in 2000.
No man ranked as low as del Potro has ever made the final of a major.
Fifth-seeded Simona Halep beat 11th-seeded Spanish rival Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5 to reach the women’s quarterfinals.
The 24-year-old Romanian was broken serving for the match at 5-4 but she broke right back, and after falling behind 0-30 in the 11th game swept the last four points in a row to end it.
Halep, who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year, edged ahead in her rivalry with Suarez Navarro, now leading their head-to-head series 6-5.
The in-form Halep, a three-times winner this year who owns a 23-3 record dating back to start of French Open, will play either top-seeded Serena Williams or unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the quarters.
On Sunday, Rafael Nadal kept making a stand, kept coming back, kept showing he would not depart quietly from this US Open. Facing a much younger, much-less-accomplished opponent, Nadal twice erased a set deficit. Then he staved off a trio of match points.
And then, more than 4 hours into the toughest test he's put his left wrist through since returning from injury, Nadal faltered. He missed a short forehand, pushing it into the net. Nadal knew what he'd done and covered his eyes with both hands. One point later, the match was over.
Nadal was upset in the US Open's fourth round by 24th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), prolonging the 14-time Grand Slam title winner's quarterfinal drought at major tournaments.
"There were things I could do better. Had the right attitude. I (fought) right up to the last ball," said the No. 4-seeded Nadal, a two-time champion at Flushing Meadows. "But I need something else. I need something more that was not there today."
He breezed through his opening three matches at the hard-court tournament, dropping only 20 games. But Pouille, a 22-year-old with flashy strokes, presented a much greater challenge in the fourth round, pushing Nadal to the limit through entertaining, tense — and intense — exchanges.
This was Pouille's third career victory in a five-setter; all have come in his past three matches.
Since losing in last year's French Open quarterfinals, Nadal has failed to make it beyond the fourth round at a major. And after winning at least one Grand Slam title each year for a decade, he's now gone two full seasons without one.
[caption id="attachment_82559" align="aligncenter"]
Lucas Pouille of France celebrates after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their 2016 US Open men’s singles match in New York Sunday. — AFP[/caption]
After finally pulling even with Pouille by capturing the fourth set, Nadal broke to open the fifth, then went ahead 4-2. But Pouille broke to 4-all.
Soon enough, they were in the tiebreaker, with Pouille holding his first three match points at 6-3.
Nadal — who came to the net far more often than usual — wouldn't concede yet, though, and one forehand winner by him plus two tight forehands by Pouille evened the score. Anyone's match to win.
Pouille never had been to a Grand Slam quarterfinal until Wimbledon a couple of months ago, but it was Nadal who blinked at 6-6. Pouille played conservatively, hitting short shots and making sure they landed in. On one such seemingly easy ball to exploit, Nadal moved forward and whipped that big forehand of his, only to see his reply smack the net.
That error made it 7-6 in the tiebreaker, Pouille's fourth match point, and he would not let this one slip away. On a 16-stroke exchange, Pouille delivered a gutsy forehand winner to a corner.
He dropped on his back, his tongue sticking out. As he rose with eyes wide open — and tongue still wagging — the last man from France to win any Grand Slam singles title, 1983 French Open champion Yannick Noah, whose son Joakim recently joined the New York Knicks, spread around high-fives in the stands.
[caption id="attachment_82560" align="aligncenter"]
Angelique Kerber of Germany gestures after winning a game against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in New York. — Reuters[/caption]
Pouille was joined in the quarterfinals by a pair of countrymen, No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 10 Gael Monfils, giving France three men's quarterfinalists at the American Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 89 years. Tsonga, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2 winner over the last US man in the field, No. 26 Jack Sock, now plays No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The defending champion had his right elbow treated by a trainer early in the third set of his 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Kyle Edmund of Britain.
Pouille will face Monfils, a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 winner over 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct for using his cellphone during a second-set changeover. Monfils is quite a character himself: In the middle of one point, he pretended to lean over to tie a shoelace before quickly resuming play.
In the women's quarterfinals, it'll be No. 2 Angelique Kerber vs. 2015 runner-up Roberta Vinci, and two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki vs. 48th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Former world No. 1 Wozniacki, the runner-up in 2009 and 2014, downed American eighth seed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-4 to make the last-eight in New York for a fifth time.
Sevastova became the first Latvian woman in 22 years to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal when she beat British 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5.
Kerber defeated Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-5 while Vinci enjoyed a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
If Kerber reaches the final, then Williams must win the title top stay on top of the pile. — Agencies
Simona Halep of Romania reacts after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in New York City Monday. — AFP[/caption]
"You never want to win a match like this. I wish Dominic a quick recovery as he has a great future," said 27-year-old del Potro.
The giant Argentine had required treatment himself on a right shoulder injury after dropping serve to go 2-1 down in the first set.
Should del Potro make the semifinals, he would be the lowest-ranked man to do so at a Grand Slam since 237-ranked Vladimir Voltchkov at Wimbledon in 2000.
No man ranked as low as del Potro has ever made the final of a major.
Fifth-seeded Simona Halep beat 11th-seeded Spanish rival Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5 to reach the women’s quarterfinals.
The 24-year-old Romanian was broken serving for the match at 5-4 but she broke right back, and after falling behind 0-30 in the 11th game swept the last four points in a row to end it.
Halep, who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year, edged ahead in her rivalry with Suarez Navarro, now leading their head-to-head series 6-5.
The in-form Halep, a three-times winner this year who owns a 23-3 record dating back to start of French Open, will play either top-seeded Serena Williams or unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the quarters.
On Sunday, Rafael Nadal kept making a stand, kept coming back, kept showing he would not depart quietly from this US Open. Facing a much younger, much-less-accomplished opponent, Nadal twice erased a set deficit. Then he staved off a trio of match points.
And then, more than 4 hours into the toughest test he's put his left wrist through since returning from injury, Nadal faltered. He missed a short forehand, pushing it into the net. Nadal knew what he'd done and covered his eyes with both hands. One point later, the match was over.
Nadal was upset in the US Open's fourth round by 24th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), prolonging the 14-time Grand Slam title winner's quarterfinal drought at major tournaments.
"There were things I could do better. Had the right attitude. I (fought) right up to the last ball," said the No. 4-seeded Nadal, a two-time champion at Flushing Meadows. "But I need something else. I need something more that was not there today."
He breezed through his opening three matches at the hard-court tournament, dropping only 20 games. But Pouille, a 22-year-old with flashy strokes, presented a much greater challenge in the fourth round, pushing Nadal to the limit through entertaining, tense — and intense — exchanges.
This was Pouille's third career victory in a five-setter; all have come in his past three matches.
Since losing in last year's French Open quarterfinals, Nadal has failed to make it beyond the fourth round at a major. And after winning at least one Grand Slam title each year for a decade, he's now gone two full seasons without one.
[caption id="attachment_82559" align="aligncenter"] Lucas Pouille of France celebrates after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their 2016 US Open men’s singles match in New York Sunday. — AFP[/caption]
After finally pulling even with Pouille by capturing the fourth set, Nadal broke to open the fifth, then went ahead 4-2. But Pouille broke to 4-all.
Soon enough, they were in the tiebreaker, with Pouille holding his first three match points at 6-3.
Nadal — who came to the net far more often than usual — wouldn't concede yet, though, and one forehand winner by him plus two tight forehands by Pouille evened the score. Anyone's match to win.
Pouille never had been to a Grand Slam quarterfinal until Wimbledon a couple of months ago, but it was Nadal who blinked at 6-6. Pouille played conservatively, hitting short shots and making sure they landed in. On one such seemingly easy ball to exploit, Nadal moved forward and whipped that big forehand of his, only to see his reply smack the net.
That error made it 7-6 in the tiebreaker, Pouille's fourth match point, and he would not let this one slip away. On a 16-stroke exchange, Pouille delivered a gutsy forehand winner to a corner.
He dropped on his back, his tongue sticking out. As he rose with eyes wide open — and tongue still wagging — the last man from France to win any Grand Slam singles title, 1983 French Open champion Yannick Noah, whose son Joakim recently joined the New York Knicks, spread around high-fives in the stands.
[caption id="attachment_82560" align="aligncenter"] Angelique Kerber of Germany gestures after winning a game against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in New York. — Reuters[/caption]
Pouille was joined in the quarterfinals by a pair of countrymen, No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 10 Gael Monfils, giving France three men's quarterfinalists at the American Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 89 years. Tsonga, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2 winner over the last US man in the field, No. 26 Jack Sock, now plays No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The defending champion had his right elbow treated by a trainer early in the third set of his 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Kyle Edmund of Britain.
Pouille will face Monfils, a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 winner over 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct for using his cellphone during a second-set changeover. Monfils is quite a character himself: In the middle of one point, he pretended to lean over to tie a shoelace before quickly resuming play.
In the women's quarterfinals, it'll be No. 2 Angelique Kerber vs. 2015 runner-up Roberta Vinci, and two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki vs. 48th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Former world No. 1 Wozniacki, the runner-up in 2009 and 2014, downed American eighth seed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-4 to make the last-eight in New York for a fifth time.
Sevastova became the first Latvian woman in 22 years to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal when she beat British 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5.
Kerber defeated Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-5 while Vinci enjoyed a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
If Kerber reaches the final, then Williams must win the title top stay on top of the pile. — Agencies
