Harrison and younger sibling Christian are the first pair of brothers to both qualify for the U.S. Open. The 120th-ranked Harrison won 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 and will now face Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the last 16. “I played, obviously, a lot of qualifications this year”, Harrison said of how coming through qualifying has prepared him for the conditions.
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But the problems really started in the third set after Raonic called for a medical timeout to have a trainer work on his left wrist. I’ve started to find some form’.
Raonic, 25, of Thornhill, Ont., was seeded fifth and came into the tournament ranked No. 6 in the world after reaching the final of Wimbledon in early July. “Probably just nerves and stress, a mental sort of over-exuberance rather than – probably more than it should”, Raonic said.
Harrison, who advanced to the third round of a grand slam for the first time, will next meet Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, a 6-2 6-4 3-6 6-4 victor over Frenchman Benoit Paire.
The one-sided contest was perhaps most memorable for the first closing of the new USA dollars 150million roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium, after rain began to fall during the second set.
Frenchman Gael Monfils rolled into the third-round with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jan Satral, setting up a matchup with Spain’s Nicolas Almagro who ousted 18 seed Pablo Cuvas 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (9).
Raonic appeared to be in total control when he went up a break in the third set, but leg cramps began severely hampering his movement and allowed Harrison to climb back into the match. “It was extremely physical, just playing on adrenaline, and I can’t thank the crowd enough”.
Raonic fell behind 5-2 in the second set but fought back to tie it 5-5 before losing the next two games. “My personality is a very fiery one. I like to be really intense when I’m competing, flirt with that line of getting so intense that it [was] taking me away from what I was trying to accomplish”.
Anderson reached the quarter-finals past year, beating 2012 champion Andy Murray on the way, but has been plagued by knee, shoulder and ankle injuries in 2016 which forced him to skip eight events. The US Open is the only Grand Slam where Raonic has failed to reach the quarterfinals, which is surprising given the speed of the surface. “I moved good; I played good; I played my game”, said Kerber.
The seventh-seeded Cilic needed just 1 hour, 40 minutes to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday.
“Life is great”, Harrison said.
“I always believe in myself”, said Wozniacki, unseeded in NY for the first time since her 2007 tournament debut, “and I always think that in my head I belong at the top of the game”. Baghdatis eliminated 32nd-seeded Benoit Paire of France 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
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John Inser of the United States fired 38 aces to beat Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (10/12), 6-3 and next faces Edmund.
