On a very busy Sunday at the U.S. Open in Flushing, Britain’s Andy Murray became the highest men’s seed (No. 4) to fall thus far, losing in four sets to Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6–7, 7–6, 6–3, 6–3.
Wawrinka displayed determination and some serious power to thwart a frustrated Murray. Wawrinka’s first serve, when he got it in, was very effective and the Swiss won 77 percent of first serve points. His average first serve speed was 125 mph, compared to Murray’s 117 mph.
The tide turned against Murray in the second set when he was up a break but failed to take the set. Wawrinka showed a lot of emotion, pumping his fists, cheering himself on, and winning crowd support while Murray became increasingly negative.
In the fourth round, Wawrinka will face young American Sam Querrey who put on a command performance defeating No. 14 seed Nicolas Almagro 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 on Louis Armstrong.
Querrey, seeded No. 20, has had an excellent year, winning four titles. This U.S. Open truly represents a chance for him to reach the big time. Querrey was dominant with his serve and forehand.
In his postmatch interview, Querrey said, “I'm definitely much fitter and much more professional. I think every aspect of my game is a little better now, especially my return game and my backhand. I think those used to be a little bit of a weakness, but now I feel like those are almost strengths.”
For a guy who is 6-feet-6 inches, mobility is usually a weakness. “I feel like I'm much faster, too; my speed and court sense is a lot better,” said Querrey, 22.
Querrey has only faced Wawrinka once. Wawrinka won that match in a third-set tiebreak last year on the hard courts of Indian Wells.
“Stan is one of the guys that hits the balls so big from both sides. If he gets hot, he can beat anyone. He can hit the ball so well and so clean,” said Querrey. Wawrinka uses a one-handed backhand that can be wild but also very powerful.
Querrey is doing his part to slowly silence the talk about a dry spell for American men in tennis. Along with Mardy Fish, Querrey represents the final hopes for American men after John Isner was eliminated by Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in four sets Sunday night. Querrey and Isner could have met in the quarterfinals.
Nadal Rolls On
Rafael Nadal, the top seed at the U.S. Open, took advantage of a distracted Gilles Simon and entered the fourth round with a 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 victory. Late last week, Simon’s girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy but the Frenchman remained in the United States to compete at the Open. Simon will now get the chance to return home.
In his three victories, Nadal has not dropped serve. He has held serve 46 straight times, aided by some increased serve speed. He hit an ace at 131 mph in his first service game.
Simon didn’t have the usual fight in him. The former top-10 player had beaten Nadal once before.
The U.S. Open represents the only grand slam that Nadal has not captured. When asked about it, Nadal pointed at the balls, not the court as being the challenge.
“The ball is softer than the rest of the balls of the tour. It’s the ball that is getting less topspin. The ball stays lower than the other ones,” said Nadal whose topspin shots bounce up very high make it difficult for opponents to attack.
Nadal, however, is pleased that at least one Spaniard will reach the semifinals. In fact his quarter is all Spanish. Nadal faces countryman Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round while David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco will face off in the adjacent bracket. In fact, six Spaniards are still alive out of the 16 men in the fourth round.
Women’s action
Up next on Ashe came Venus Williams who got past Israel’s Shahar Peer 7–6, 6–3. Peer gave Venus a tough first set with her fighting spirit but the two-time U.S. Open champion pulled through.
Venus got an early break in the second set but Peer broke back to 5–3. Venus returned the favor to take the second set 6–3. Up next for Venus is Francesca Schiavone, the French Open champion. Williams is 7–0 against Schiavone.
In an on-court interview with CBS, Williams commented on the conditions and generous crowd support. “In these [windy] conditions, it’s not easy. I need all the help I can get.”
