“I couldn’t dream better than this”, he said.
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Juan Martin del Potro became the lowest ranked man since 1991 to reach the US Open quarter-finals when opponent Dominic Thiem retired from their last-16 tie through injury on Monday.
In a heartbreaking moment at the US Open 2016, Rafael Nadal was knocked out in his fourth-round match against Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
And then, more than 4 hours into the toughest test he’s put his left wrist through since returning from injury, Nadal faltered.
Wozniacki, her ranking down to 74th following a series of injuries, hadn’t won four matches in a row since March 2015.
We’re right in the middle of the US Open, the last of the four grand slam tournaments each year.
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, hits a return shot to Kyle Edmund, of Britain, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY.
By steeling himself for the slog, Pouille was able to withstand Nadal’s comebacks and match him stroke for stroke. “It’s a question of playing a little bit better than I did”.
“I think he played a good match”, Nadal said.
Konta, an Australian Open semifinalist, collapsed to the court with trouble breathing during her second-round match, but she didn’t appear to have any physical problems Sunday.
Pouille may still not be well-known among the more casual tennis fans but the 22-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the rankings this year from a position of No 91 in mid-February and reached the last-eight at Wimbledon. But I need something else, I needed something more that was not there today.
It is the first time since 1947 that three Frenchmen have reached the quarterfinals of one Grand Slam.
“I couldn’t believe he would miss it”, Pouille said of a key shot in the final set tiebreaker.
Italian No. 7 seed Roberta Vinci, last year’s US Open runner-up, topped Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Monfils made his match against Marcos Baghdatis look a lot easier, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win. “That’s it”, the 30-year-old Nadal said.
“Losing in the fourth round after having a big chance to play a great event here, feeling myself ready for it, for sure I am not very satisfied, no?”
The taut battle came down to the fifth-set tiebreaker and Nadal, trailing 3-6, showed his mettle by saving three match points the third on Pouilles serve. Her opponent Tuesday, Anastasija Sevastova, had never won four straight matches at any major until now and was retired for almost two years before returning at the start of last season. 14-time major victor Rafa Nadal was facing youngster Lucas Pouille.
The win was Pouille’s third straight 5-set victory and it put him into the quarterfinals with fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils, an Open Era record for French success in Slams. “And then 6-3 in the tiebreak, he came back”, Pouille said.
Wozniacki is back in the last-eight of a Slam for the first time since making the semi-finals in NY in 2014.
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Pouille had never reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal until Wimbledon this year. No. 2 Angelique Kerber or No. 14 Petra Kvitova, and two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki vs. 48th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. With Kerber making the quarters, Serena Williams will need to advance to the final to retain the No. 1 ranking.
