Serena Williams makes Grand Slam history with win
Del Potro's run continues into quarter-finals
Serena Williams surpassed Roger Federer for most Grand Slam match victories in tennis' Open era with No. 308, a 6-2, 6-3 win over Yaroslava Shvedova on Monday to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals.
Williams hit a tournament-leading 126-mph serve, pounded 11 aces, won 28 of 30 points when a first serve landed in, and didn't face a break point against the 52nd-ranked Shvedova.
The top-seeded Williams is 308-42 at major tournaments, a .880 winning percentage, and is now three more wins from her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, which would break a tie with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era, which started in 1968.
Williams has made it to the quarterfinals in each of her past nine appearances at Flushing Meadows. Last year, a loss to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals ended Williams' bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.
Williams next faces No. 5 Simona Halep. Earlier in the day, Halep made the quarterfinals for the second straight year, beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets 6-2, 7-5.
Suarez Navarro, seeded 11th, was seeking the sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career.
Halep had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set but got broken. She then broke Suarez Navarro's serve in the next game and successfully served it out in her second opportunity.
Del Poltro (also) makes history
Juan Martin del Potro is the lowest-ranked man to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Jimmy Connors in 1991, and it turns out a 27-year-old Argentine can share much in common with a 39-year-old American.
At its root, the story captivating fans at Flushing Meadows is the same: the former champion making an unlikely run to reclaim past glory.
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. The only thing missing from his tale so far this year is a marathon match.
Monday's victory was particularly brief after eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem retired in the second set because of a bum knee. For once, an injury was aiding del Potro, not hindering him.
Still tired after the stunning run to an Olympic silver medal that announced him as a contender again, he got a huge break Monday in spending only 72 minutes on court. Del Potro has played just 10-plus sets through four rounds.
Thiem took a medical timeout to have trainers look at his right knee after the second set's fifth game. He returned to the court for one point before deciding he couldn't go on.
Del Potro had won the first set 6-3 and was up a break in the second. He had trainers massage his right shoulder in the first set but looked fine after coming back from down an early break.
Murray cruises to quarters
Andy Murray won 9 of the first 10 games and overwhelmed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals for the 22nd time in his past 23 Grand Slam tournaments.
During the changeover right before the last game, it suddenly began to rain, and play was delayed only slightly before the shower passed. The new retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium was not closed.
The No. 2-seeded Murray played well, certainly, but he also faced little resistance from No. 22 Dimitrov, who accumulated 23 unforced errors and only two winners by the time he trailed 3-0 in the second set.
Murray has won 26 of his past 27 matches, including a title at Wimbledon and a second consecutive singles gold medal at the Olympics.
The 2012 U.S. Open champion will face No. 6 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Venus falls in 4th
Venus Williams failed to convert a match point and lost in the fourth round of the U.S. Open to a player a dozen years younger than her, 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Pliskova reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career by coming back to edge seven-time major champion Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 24-year-old Pliskova had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.
At 36, Williams was trying to become the oldest Grand Slam quarterfinalist since Martina Navratilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994.
Nishikori advances to quarters
Kei Nishikori returned to the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a straight-set victory over No. 21-seeded Ivo Karlovic.
The 2014 runner-up won 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Monday in the last singles match at the current Louis Armstrong Stadium. It will be torn down after the tournament, with a new venue to be built to replace it.
The 37-year-old Karlovic was the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam round of 16 since Jimmy Connors at the 1991 U.S. Open. At 6-foot-11, he set a tournament record with 61 aces in a five-set win in the first round.
But in windy conditions Monday, the sixth-seeded Nishikori was the player with the more effective serve. Karlovic had 21 aces, but he won 77 per cent of his first serves compared with 84 per cent for Nishikori. More importantly, Nishikori won on 70 per cent of his second serves to just 47 per cent for Karlovic.
Nishikori also successfully hit passing shots and even lobs against the towering Karlovic, who won only 23 of 56 points at the net.
It was a nearly flawless day for Nishikori, who had a mere three unforced errors through two sets. He needed to save two set points in the third before racing to a 6-0 lead in the final tiebreaker.
Radwanska upset
Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final by upsetting No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-4.
Konjuh, who is 18 and ranked only 92nd, had never been past the third round at a major until this tournament. She was the junior champion at Flushing Meadows in 2013.
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. She recoiled, let the ball drop, and put her left hand to her chest. Once Konjuh realized nothing bad was going on, she smiled, then finished off the biggest win of her career.
In Wednesday's quarterfinals, Konjuh will face 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who eliminated Venus Williams earlier Monday.