U.S. Open: Andy Murray beats Lorenzi in 4 sets
Serena Williams surpasses Navratilova on all-time women's victory list
Flummoxed and frustrated by wily veteran Paolo Lorenzi for two sets, second seed Andy Murray changed tactics and beat the 34-year-old Italian at his own game to advance to the U.S. Open fourth round on Saturday.
Murray was moping and muttering to himself as he pressed for winners against the steady Italian and piled up unforced errors before deciding to patiently play long rallies that enabled him to secure a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win.
World No. 2 Murray committed 47 errors in the first two sets, including 31 off his forehand, and converted only 4-of-12 break points before finding his form in the third set.
The 40th-ranked Lorenzi put up a gritty fight despite coming off a gruelling five-set, five-hour win over French 30th seed Gilles Simon in his second-round tilt.
The Scotsman's harder than expected three-hour 17-minute victory kept his golden summer moving forward after triumphs at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.
Lorenzi is also enjoying a stellar season, logging his first victory ever on the ATP Tour, becoming the oldest first-time champion by winning at Kitzbuehel, and adding two semifinals and a quarter-final to his credit.
"I stopped rushing in the rallies," 2012 U.S. Open winner Murray said in an on-court interview. "I was making quite a few unforced errors.
"He's an extremely solid player and doesn't give you many cheap points. I was trying to get cheap points, I was going for too much.
"When I slowed things down and waited for the right shot to go for, my unforced errors went down, the winners went up and the scoreboard started working in my favor as well."
Murray advanced to a fourth-round clash with 22nd seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Serena Williams earns 307th Grand Slam match victory
Another win, another milestone for Serena Williams who rolled into the U.S. Open last 16 on Saturday by crushing Sweden's Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1 to collect Grand Slam victory number 307 - the most by a woman in the Open era.
As in the majority of her victories at the majors, Williams operated with ruthless efficiency but displayed little fire as she coolly dispatched the 47th-ranked Swede in exactly one hour.
The win moved the 34-year-old American past Martina Navratilova and level with Roger Federer for most Grand Slam victories by a man or woman.
"Wow. That's pretty awesome and honestly what a better place to do it than here, where it all started," Williams told an adoring Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
"It is actually a really good feeling. To be up there with both men and women is something that's super rare."
It was at Flushing Meadows where Williams won her first Grand Slam in 1999 and 17 years later it is where she could achieve two more career landmarks if she can reach the winner's circle again on Sept. 10.
A record seventh U.S. Open title would give Williams 23 career Grand Slams, moving her past Steffi Graf again for the most in the Open Era, and just one shy of Margaret Court who tops the all-time list with 24.
"Each number I'm definitely proud of," said Williams. "I was really excited to 307. I was really excited to do that."
Williams will go for win number 308 on Monday when she meets Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, a 6-2 7-5 winner over China's Zhang Shuai, in round four.
Williams arrived at Flushing Meadows last year on the cusp of claiming a calendar slam and the weight of expectation was crushing, the pressure mounting with each match until a shock loss to Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals.
This year Williams has been unusually low key, making her way into the fourth round with minimum fuss having yet to drop a set, conserving energy for the second week where the real tournament begins for the world number one.
For her first day match on Arthur Ashe, Williams switched from evening black to afternoon white but the change in attire did nothing to change the outcome.
Larsson fell behind quickly as Williams broke her at the first opportunity and again to close out the first set.
The Swede began better in the second set, holding serve to level at 1-1 but Williams was in no mood to mess around as she swept the next five games.
"I feel like I have been doing pretty good," said Williams. "I have been being moving a lot. So far, so good."
Del Potro continues to impress
Juan Martin del Potro's comeback is rolling along.
Del Potro, the 2009 champ who returned to Grand Slam competition this year after missing 2 1/2 years of major tournaments because of operations on his left wrist, had little trouble beating 11th-seeded David Ferrer 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-3 to move into the fourth round.
The 6-foot-6 del Potro was the clear favourite of the Louis Armstrong Stadium fans, who cheered wildly with every winner, and he responded with confident fist pumps. He ended the match with both arms raised to a standing ovation.
In his post-match interview, del Potro said: "This crowd, this stadium, this atmosphere is incredible. You make me happy every day."
Del Potro, who is ranked No. 142 because of his long absence from play, was given a wild card into Flushing Meadows on the heels of an Olympic performance in which he beat Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal before losing to Andy Murray in the gold-medal match.
In the round of 16 at a major for the first time since 2013, del Potro next faces eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem.
Wawrinka outlasts Evans
Stan Wawrinka saved a match point and edged Dan Evans to reach the U.S. Open's fourth round.
Wawrinka, a two-time major champion seeded No. 3, eventually emerged with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8), 6-2 victory over the 64th-ranked Evans on Saturday night.
Evans never has been to the fourth round at a major. He was trying to join Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund to give Britain a trio of men that far at the American Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1932, when it was known as the U.S. Championships. Britain last put two men among the final 16 at the event 50 years ago.
Evans was one point from victory, leading 6-5 in the fourth-set tiebreaker after Wawrinka floated a lob barely long. Evans stuck his tongue in his cheek and grinned, as if knowing he got away with one there.
On the next point, though, Wawrinka stretched for an angled forehand drop volley winner to extend the match. It took Wawrinka three set points to force a fifth, finally converting when he hit a 102-mph sliding second-serve ace to get to 9-8, followed by Evans' wide forehand error.
Wawrinka pointed his right finger to his temple before walking to the changeover, then came back out and broke Evans en route to a 4-0 lead in the closing set.
With files from The Associated Press