Kyle Edmund’s run at the ongoing 2016 US Open came to an end yesterday, as world number one, Novak Djokovic, showed he is back to his best with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 fourthround win.
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“I fight until the end”, Nadal said about his 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 loss to 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille late Sunday.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended the hopes of an American reaching the last eight at NY for the first time since 2011 after he beat Jack Sock 6-3 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-2.
Edmund is ranked 84th in the world, but already he will be closing in on the top 50 by the time this tournament has ended.
He looked fresh and rested as he dominated Edmund in the first two sets and appeared well on his way to waltzing through the third.
Djokovic dictated the rallies and played unusually quickly between points, seizing on the initial nerves of his opponent. In the quarter-finals the world No1 will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, with the victor to face either Lucas Pouille or Gael Monfils.
Djokovic will be a step up in class, having enjoyed the benefit of two withdrawals and nearly five days rest, but Edmund knows what to expect after losing to the Serbian in Miami in March. I take loads of positives from the way I’ve been playing. “I wanted to move him around the court”.
If Isner was hitting higher spots on his serve – maxing out at 137mph, seven faster than the Yorkshireman – Edmund looked the more solid all-round on court and had his opponent in all sorts of trouble taking the third.
“I’m sorry you guys watching didn’t get to see a full match”.
“From the other side, sure, as you are approaching (the) second week of the Grand Slams”, he continued, “you want to have match play and you want to have time spent on the center court before you face one of the top players”.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal has still yet to drop a set as he maintained his 100 per cent record at the tournament thus far, beating Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to book his place in round four.
At the start of the third, however, he called on the trainer to massage his troublesome right elbow and there was some temporary respite for Edmund, who broke twice to lead 3-2. “I’m confident that everything is going in the right direction”.
In their 10 prior meetings on outdoor hard Tsonga has only managed to hold his serve 73.3% of the time – exactly 10% less often than Djokovic has in this match-up and his lack of a really effective backhand means he relies very heavily on his serve.
The 26th-seeded Sock upset 2014 U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic in the third round, never facing a break point.
Kerber’s victory set up an intriguing last eight clash with Italy’s Roberta Vinci, last year’s surprise runner-up advancing with a 7-6 (5) 6-2 win over Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.
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The 29-year-old notched two aces in the opening set and won 14 of 16 points on his first serve.
