“It was very, very important because I start to believe in myself”, del Potro said of that win.
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The victor of the quarterfinal match will face Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina or Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland who is now World No. 3. del Potro and Wawrinka will battle on Thursday in a night session event also at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The quick-footed Nishikori made 37-year-old Karlovic look like he was standing still, which he often was, as he raced to victory in two hours to earn a berth into the last eight.
“I had to stop rushing”, said Murray, who may have expected less from Lorenzi, the 34-year-old who only won a first ATP title in July. The sixth seed has not really had a comfortable match so far in this US Open – he was taken to four sets in the first three rounds, before needing all his returning and counter-punching powers to quell the Ivo Karlovic storm, albeit quite impressively in a straight set win.
She will be the favourite on Wednesday, and her relative wealth of experience compared to Konjuh should give her the edge.
Pliskova reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career by coming back to edge seven-time major champion Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In a rematch of their second round encounter at Wimbledon, the resurgent, Juan Martin Del Potro comes up against the brilliantly unpredictable Swiss, Stan Wawrinka. Another similar show in the quarterfinal against Kei Nishikori, and the No.2 seed will be in the semifinals of a Grand Slam yet again.
Marchenko had dropped the first set of his third-round match against 14th-seeded Nick Kyrgios but won the next two as the Australian struggled with a hip injury that eventually forced him to retire.
It is the first time since 1927 that three Frenchmen have reached the last-eight in NY.
The win sets up a clash with Del Potro in the quarters, a rematch of their final-64 battle at Wimbledon in June, in which the Argentinian came out on top.
The Rio 2016 silver medallist then went on to win the next five games to take the set 6-3, before Thiem retired midway through the second. He returned to the court for one point before deciding he couldn’t go on. With a great run of form, which includes a bronze medal in Rio, Nishikori is beginning to rediscover his best tennis.
At No. 142, del Potro is the lowest-ranked U.S. Open quarterfinalist since Jimmy Connors in 1991. Del Potro will eat those slow returns for lunch.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic moved into the quarterfinals, beating 21-year-old Kyle Edmund 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
The evening’s action will see Serena Williams take on Simona Halep for a spot in the last four, while Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka will face off to see who faces Murray or Nishikori in the semis.
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Konjuh knocked off fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, avenging her heartbreaking loss to the Pole in the second round at Wimbledon, while Pliskova ousted Venus Williams to make the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time after 17 prior attempts.
