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Kyrgios no match for Federer as de Minaur stretches Cilic to his limits

Roar Guru
2nd September, 2018
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Kyrgios is left absolutely gobsmacked after Federer pulls off the impossible
Roar Guru
2nd September, 2018
0

Only one Australian man remains in the draw after what can only be described as a manic Day 6 at Flushing Meadows.

That man is Alex de Minaur, who showed incredible fight only to fall short against seventh seed Marin Cilic in a match that lasted exactly four hours and didn’t finish until 2:22am local time.

It was just four minutes short of the latest-ever finish for a match at the US Open, which has occurred three times, the most recent in 2014 when Kei Nishikori outlasted Milos Raonic in a five-set marathon en route to reaching that year’s final.

19-year-old de Minaur claimed the opening two sets, after which a major upset appeared on the cards, before Cilic launched his comeback, taking the third and fourth sets by 6-3 and 6-4 respectively to level the match at two sets all and force a one-set shootout.

The young Australian struck the first blow by breaking early in the final set, before Cilic streaked to a 5-2 lead where he held five match points against his serve.

However, de Minaur would not give in, saving them all to hold in the eighth game and then force the 2014 titlist to serve it out.

But there was more drama to come, as Cilic was then broken in the ninth game, before de Minaur held to make it 5-all.

The 29-year-old Croat would then take the final two games of the match, converting on his seventh match point to progress to a fourth round engagement against Belgian David Goffin.

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It marked his sixth comeback from two sets to love down in a best-of-five match, while he also made it eight from nine in matches that have gone the distance at Flushing Meadows.

Earlier in the day, Nick Kyrgios was no match for Roger Federer as he went down in straight sets, but despite the lopsided scoreline, the Australian was far from disgraced.

Federer’s class was highlighted in the third set when he pulled off this spectacular shot in the seventh game of the third set:

And all Kyrgios could do was watch in awe.

The dream quarter-final between Federer and Novak Djokovic is closer to eventuating, with the Serb doing his part by way of a straight-sets win over French 26th seed Richard Gasquet.

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Kyrgios is left absolutely gobsmacked after Federer pulls off the impossible

Kyrgios is left absolutely gobsmacked after Federer pulls off the impossible

He will next face Joao Sousa in the fourth round, while Federer is up against another Aussie in his next match, in the form of John Millman.

But fourth seed Alexander Zverev’s tournament is over after he crashed to a four-set loss to compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber, who will next face Kei Nishikori after he defeated 13th seed Diego Schwartzman in four sets.

Meantime, in the women’s draw, there are no top ten seeds left in the bottom half of the draw after Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova both crashed out of the tournament.

Kerber, the fourth seed and 2016 champion, fell to Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in three sets while Kvitova became the latest victim of Belarussian rising star Aryna Sabalenka’s surge up the rankings, going down in straight sets.

This means that none of this year’s earlier Grand Slam winners have managed to make it to the fourth round, after Caroline Wozniacki (Australian Open) and Simona Halep (French Open) all departed Flushing Meadows within the first four days.

It also means that there will be a first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, which will come out of the bottom quarter of the draw.

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The two matches in this section of the draw will see Sabalenka lock horns with Japan’s Naomi Osaka while Marketa Vondrousova is up against Wozniacki’s second round victor, Lesia Tsurenko.

One former champion who will feature in the second week, though, is 2006 titlist Maria Sharapova, who comfortably defeated former French Open titlist Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets, losing just five games.

Maria Sharapova at Roland Garros

Who will be favourite in a women’s draw lacking Sharapova? (Yann Caradec / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Russian is now the hot favourite from the bottom half of the draw to reach the final, with her only obstacles to a possible championship showdown against Serena Williams a potential quarter-final clash against either Madison Keys or Dominika Cibulkova.

First, though, the 31-year-old needs to beat Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro (a three-set winner over Caroline Garcia) in her fourth round match.

The fourth round gets underway this morning with Rafael Nadal looking to set up a rematch against either Dominic Thiem (whom he defeated in the French Open final in June) or Kevin Anderson (whom he beat in last year’s US Open final) in the quarter-finals, while Serena Williams will start favourite to reach the last eight when she comes up against Kaia Kanepi.

Women’s defending champion Sloane Stephens headlines the evening session, taking on Elise Mertens before 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro lines up against 2013 boys’ champion Borna Coric.

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The last remaining Australian in the women’s draw, Ashleigh Barty, is up against 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova in the second match on Louis Armstrong Stadium, with a possible quarter-final showdown against Serena the prize for the victor.

Matches to watch on Day 7
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Day session – play starts at 12:00pm (2:00am AEST)
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
Kaia Kanepi (EST) vs [17] Serena Williams (USA)

Night session – play starts at 7:00pm (9:00am AEST)
[3] Sloane Stephens (USA) vs [15] Elise Mertens (BEL)
[3] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs [20] Borna Coric (CRO)

Louis Armstrong Stadium
Play starts at 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
[9] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs [5] Kevin Anderson (RSA)
[18] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) vs [8] Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
[11] John Isner (USA) vs [25] Milos Raonic (CAN)

Grandstand
Not before 5:00pm (7:00am AEST)
[19] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) vs [7] Elina Svitolina (UKR)

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