Juan Martin del Potro was able to conserve energy in progressing to the last eight of the US Open as Dominic Thiem retired through injury.
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In other U.S. Open news, Simona Halep made the quarterfinals for the second straight year, beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets.
The 6-foot-6 Argentine has undergone numerous wrist surgeries in recent years, but he has shown championship form once again this summer, winning the singles silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Serena’s sister Venus, who has seen a resurgence in her career, will be up against number 10 seed Karoline Pliskova.
Del Potro had won the first set 6-3 and was up a break in the second.
Del Potro got a huge break Monday when he spent only 72 minutes on court. The 23-year-old Austrian had needed five sets to beat Australia’s John Millman in the first round and four to get past Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the last 32. On the 25th anniversary of the 174th-ranked Connors’ rousing run to the semis, he’s a win away from that stage at No. 142 in the world. But the Austrian’s knee gave way before he even had a chance to respond, sending Del Potro through to the last eight after getting the short match that his tired body clearly needed.
The No. 2-seeded Murray, who is hoping to add Flushing Meadows to his Wimbledon and Olympic titles this year, takes on 22-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
Del Potro’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be the victor of the match between Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka and Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko.
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Among the women’s highlights are back-to-back afternoon matches on Ashe with the Williams sisters. Then top-seeded Serena meets 52nd-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova.
