U.S.Open Day 5
Hewitt Upsets Del Potro in 5-set Thriller; Djokovic, Murray Advance to Third Round
2001 U.S.Open Champion Hewitt. Photo usopen.org
August 30 2013 ITS Staff: New York - In a battle of former U.S. Open Champions Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Argentina provided one of the most thrilling matches of the tournament thus far. The 2001 champion Hewitt, 32, outlasted his 24-year old opponent , the 2009 winner, with a 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6 (2) 6-1 upset victory on Friday night.
Del Potro and Hewitt both won the US Open title when they were 20 years old. Del Potro stunned Roger Federer in the 2009 final while Hewitt posted his first of two Grand Slam titles with a victory over Pete Sampras in 2001. Del Potro, who grew up idolizing Hewitt, committed a total of 70 unforced errors and couldn’t seem to find his rhythm as the Australian managed to keep him off-balance in the four hour and 3 minute match. Del Potro came into the tournament as one of the favorites to win the singles title. Hewitt next faces 102nd-ranked Evgeny Donskoy of Russia who rallied for a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over German Peter Gojowczyk.
Earlier in the afternoon, defending champion and reigning Wimbledon winner Andy Murray dismissed Argentine Leonardo Mayer on Friday evening with 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory. The 26-year old Scot faces another Mayer in the fourth round – this time from Germany in whose first name is Florian who advanced earlier with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over American Donald Young. Murray had a temporary lapse in third set but settled back in time to breeze through the fourth to close out the third round match. After the match, Murray was quoted by Reuters UK saying, “It was a very tough match. Both of us did a lot of running. I started to move better as the match went on. He's a big hitter of the ball and I had to defend a lot." Murray, who is looking to reach his fourth straight major final, has won 22 of his past 23 Grand Slam matches, winning the US Open last year and this year’s Wimbledon, a runner-up finish at the Australian Open.
Djokovic Struggles in First Set But Cruises Past Becker
World No.1 Novak Djokovic. Photo usopen.org
usopen.org: August 30 2013 by McCarton Ackerman, New York - No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia faced a tough second-round opponent in Benjamin Becker of Germany, who has beaten big names on Arthur Ashe Stadium before. The 32-year-old German famously beat Andre Agassi in the final match of Agassi's career in 2006. The 2011 US Open men's singles champion was forced to overcome some inspired play from Becker early in the match, fighting off two set points in the opening set en route to a 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 win in 111 minutes. “It was a tough match for me today," Djokovic said. "Becker is a quality opponent and should have won the first set, but I was lucky enough to come through that. Once I got through that, I felt much more comfortable on the court.” Djokovic was already an overwhelming favorite to make the second week of the US Open, but his chances have been helped even further by all the seeds in his section losing early. He will play either Jarkko Nieminen of Finland or Joao Sousa of Portugal in the third round, while three of his four potential fourth-round opponents are ranked outside of the Top 70 in the world. Full article;
Djokovic next will face Joao Sousa for a place in the round of 16. The World No. 95 ranked Portugese followed -up his first-round upset of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov with another marathon victory beating Finn Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Men’s Singles Second Round Friday August 30
1-Novak Djokovic beat Benjamin Becker 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2
3-Andy Murray beat Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
5-Tomas Berdych beat Denis Kudla 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3
Lleyton Hewitt beat 6-Juan Martin del Potro 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6(2) 6-1
9-Stanislas Wawrinka beat Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 7-6(8), 6-4
12-Tommy Haas beat Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) final
Marcos Baghdatis beat 17-Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 6-2
20-Andreas Seppi beat Somdev Devvarman 7-6(8), 6-4, 7-5
21-Mikhail Youzhny beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
31-Julien Benneteau beat Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Joao Sousa beat Jarkko Nieminen 1-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4
Evgeny Donskoy beat Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3
Marcel Granollers beat Rajeev Ram 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
Dennis Istomin beat Tobias Kamke 6-4 6-2 6-2
Tim Smyczek beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. 3-6 7-6(6) 2-6 6-4 6-4
Florian Mayer beat Donald Young 7-5 6-3 6-4
Women's Singles Third Round Friday August 30
8-Angelique Kerber beat 25-Kaia Kanepi 6-0 6-4
9-Jelena Jankovic beat Kurumi Nara 6-4 7-6(5)
15-Sloane Stephens beat 23-Jamie Hampton 6-1 6-3
24-Ekaterina Makarova beat 16-Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-5
3-Agnieszka Radwanska beat 32-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 7-6(1)
5-Li Na beat 30-Laura Robson 6-2 7-5
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