The 142nd-ranked del Potro was leading eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-3, 3-2 when the Austrian retired with a right knee injury.
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At its root, the story captivating fans at Flushing Meadows is the same: the former champion making an unlikely run to reclaim past glory.
His career derailed by four wrist surgeries – no other grand slam victor in recent history, perhaps ever, has been hit as hard by injuries – del Potro wanted the trainer at the first changeover. The only thing missing from his tale so far at this tournament is a marathon match.
Usually floaty, short and ripe for the picking, the quality of Del Potro’s current driven backhand is so poor that it has proven to be surprisingly effective; the rest of the top players just aren’t used to facing a shot of such low quality and that, along with the constant fear most live with of Del Potro’s forehand, has complicated attempts to break it down.
There was a moment in del Potro’s clash when the Argentinian’s backers must have been holding their breath.
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.
Andy Murray won nine of 10 games to start and overwhelmed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 at the US Open on Monday night.
“You can’t take too many risks with the knee”. “So I was all the time a little bit handicapped”.
Third seed Wawrinka, victor of the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open, overpowered the 63rd-ranked Marchenko, who reached the fourth round when 14th-seeded Nick Kyrgios retired with a hip injury while trailing two sets to one.
Thiem was playing his 69th match of the year, the most on the ATP Tour, and he acknowledged he would adjust his schedule next season.
He is still yet to drop a set, after dispatching 11th seed David Ferrer and American Steve Johnson in the earlier rounds, and he will now face either Stan Wawrinka or Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko in the last eight.
In the 25th anniversary year of his memorable run to US Open semi-finals at age 39, Jimmy Connors came up a lot Monday.
As she was serving for the victory in the final game, Konjuh was startled – right along with the spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium – when a piercing noise was heard from the arena’s sound system as she tossed a ball. But the roars he keeps drawing pour down from just about everyone. He said he did not mind being in the shadow of No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Murray and even No. 142 del Potro.
Juan Martin del Potro became the first wild card to reach the US Open quarterfinals since James Blake in 2005.
This time, he doesn’t want the cheers to end.
Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka won through to the US Open quarter-finals, along with Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin del Potro.
But Halep regained her composure, channeling that frustration into positive performance, breaking Suarez-Navarro back for 6-5 and then serving the match out, wrapping up the straight-set victory with a backhand victor that had too much for Suarez-Navarro to handle as she came to net.
Dimitrov hardly put up a fight as Murray cruised to a 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory in NY. “Physically, I feel strong enough to face her”. The 22-time major champ plays Yaroslava Shvedova later in the day.
“I didn’t expect to be in the quarters in my second Slam after my comeback”, he said.
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Thiem called for the trainer after struggling through the latter part of the first set and the early stages of the second. Pliskova broke for 6-5 on a net-cord victor when her rival looked set to put a volley away.
