Kyle Edmund is not the kind of individual who needs a lesson, but he got given one anyway this morning when he met Novak Djokovic in the US Open fourth round.
Advertisement
The Serbian ace was in great form on Sunday and showed no signs of being rusty despite only playing 6 games in the past 2 rounds because of injuries to Jiri Vesely and Mikhail Youzhny. “So I’m really glad to be back”, Djokovic said in an on-court interview. I actually like playing night sessions very much. Djokovic kept his foot on the gas in the second set and continued to trouble Edmund, who had no answer to the top seed.
The 12-time major victor will face France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight while Edmund’s defeat leaves Great Britain with only Andy Murray in the singles draw.
But then Djokovic’s injury problems resurfaced, and Edmund – whom the world No. 1 had toyed with up until that point – got up off the canvas to battle back from 2-0 down to 2-2 in the third set.
“I came off a lot happier than I was during the match just because I got something going and started to impose myself a lot better”.
“Considering I had some struggles before the tournament, I feel great at this moment physically; mentally as well I’m motivated”.
“Just enjoyed the experience”, the South African-born Briton said.
“It’s given me a lot more belief in my game”, Edmund said.
“When I was a kid, of course, I was dreaming of winning Slams and being one day No 1, and now it can happen”, said Kerber. “Think I was most pleased with that”.
Kerber will face Italy’s Roberta Vinci for a spot in the semifinals. “And to win three best-of-five sets, I’ve never done that in my career”.
Former world no 1 Wozniacki, the runner-up in 2009 and 2014, downed American eighth seed Madison Keys 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to make the last-eight in NY for a fifth time.
However, he was out-classed by the world no.1, being dispatched 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 as Djokovic searches for his 13th grand slam title.
Pouille, aged 22, pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the tournament when he beat Rafael Nadal 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
The 21-year-old has been one of the stories of the last Grand Slam of the year having seen off two seeds, Richard Gasquet and John Isner, en route to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
The world No1 will be hoping that normal service has been resumed after his run of 28 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam quarter-finals ended at Wimbledon, where he admitted he was troubled by personal issues and was followed by a shocking first-round exit at the Olympics.
Advertisement
The 23-year-old Sock, seeded 26th, had not faced a break point in surprising 2014 champion Marin Cilic in the third round.
