He led by a break at 1-0 and 4-2 in the fifth set, but Pouille broke back to 4-all, and eventually converted his fourth match point in the tiebreaker with a gutsy forehand victor to close a 16-stroke exchange.
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The 14th-seeded Kvitova had 43 unforced errors and seven doubles-faults – the last coming on match point. On a 16-stroke exchange, Pouille delivered a gutsy forehand victor to a corner. “I’m confident that everything is going in the right direction”. I put me in a position to have the victor and I had the mistake.
Nadal said that although the grand slam season is over, he still has goals. That’s it. You can not go insane thinking about these kind of things. Having only played him once, and at 25 years old it might take Pouille some time to get into the match because of that.
Back came Nadal, though, and after taking the fourth, he broke early in the decider to move with two games of a place in the quarter-finals, where Gael Monfils awaited the victor.
“My first match on the center court against Rafa”, Pouille said in his on-court interview.
For Nadal, it was another disappointing end to a major.
Playing his third consecutive five-set match on Sunday, the 24th seed Pouille showed that his quarter-final advance earlier this season at Wimbledon was no fluke. But the Spaniard wasted a number of chances in the final set, which he led with a break at 1-0 and 4-2.
At Wimbledon he beat former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Australian Bernard Tomic en route to the quarters, his first trip past the second round of a major in his 10th attempt.
“It was tough and now I need to come back there”. Had the right attitude.
“I came out of the blocks with high intensity which was hard after waiting all day to start the match”, he said. “But I need something else”. I see new or good stuff today. I gave him a lot of space to pass me. The injury is at the end of the process. I’m happy where I am now, so I going to prepare great for my match’. “That’s what my body is asking me now”. Pouille and Monfils will play each other for a berth in the semifinals.
Djokovic, who has played just six games in his last two appearances on court after second and third round opponents withdrew through injury, returned to form as he inflicted a crushing 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 defeat on the Briton, ranked at number 84 in the world.
Neither player is now ranked in the top 45, but considering their popularity with the fans, they’re facing off in a night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Monfils, who reached his second career grand slam semi-final and first since 2008 in Roland Garros, will meet either top seed Novak Djokovic or ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the third Frenchman in the last eight at Flushing Meadows.
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“It took everything – I could not dream better than that”, Pouille said after earning the biggest victory of his career.
