Del Potro booked his spot in the final eight when Dominic Thiem retired in the second set of their match.
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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.
Meanwhile, Karolina Pliskova ruined any chance of another Flushing Meadows sister showdown as she claimed a dramatic 4-6 6-4 7-6 (3) win over sixth-seeded Venus Williams.
Some of del Potro’s other notable matches include him ending Andy Roddick’s singles career by beating him in the fourth round in 2012 before losing to No. 2 seed Djokovic in the quarterfinals. In del Potro’s first Grand Slam back, his second-round upset of Wawrinka at Wimbledon initially hinted at a return to the top of the sport.
In the quarterfinals, del Potro’s opponent will be No. 3 Wawrinka, a 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victor against Illya Marchenko. “Physically, I feel strong enough to face her”.
Unlike Murray and Nishikori, two-time major champion Stan Wawrinka had a tougher road to the quarterfinals.
In del Potro’s case, his body has betrayed him through injuries, not age – multiple left wrist surgeries that kept him out of the last two U.S. Opens.
Jimmy Connors was ranked 174 when he went on to the US Open semi-finals in 1991. Now it’s 2014 French Open runner-up Halep’s turn to try to deal with the serve of Serena Williams, who reached a tournament-best 126 miles per hour, delivered 11 aces and won 28 of 30 first-serve points against Shvedova.
Juan Martin del Potro could add his name to those players, who have super-coaches. At the time, del Potro said he was just happy to be playing at Centre Court, happy to be playing tennis at all.
But all those victories meant a tour-high 69 matches.
Del Porto carried that form into the second set and – injury permitting – looked likely to have too much for Thiem. The Spaniard would break back to cut things to 2-4, but Halep immediately broke back to put the first set out of reach, closing it out in 46 minutes.
In fact, last year he played only four matches and the year before just 10.
The problem, however, was not a major one, the 27-year-old Argentine returning to court and eventually breaking back at 3-3, sweeping four straight games and closing out the set with a thundering ace.
“We have a good connection between the New York City people, between the Argentine fans the American fans and me”.
“I never expected to play that many matches, of course, this year”, Thiem said.
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Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is in the nightcap on Ashe, taking on 92nd-ranked Ana Konjuh. “He has a great future, he’s a great competitor and I hope he will get well soon”. He served efficiently, was lethal at the net, took all three break opportunities and hit a mere 10 unforced errors.Elsewhere, Kei Nishikori booked his place in the last eight with a straight sets victory over Ivo Karlovic in the last match to be held on Louis Armstrong before it is rebuilt.
