US Open 2013 Day 9: Murray battles, Serena & Djokovic romp
Wimbledon.com's highlights from the ninth day of play at the 2013 US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York...
Match of the day
Mikhail Youzhny d. Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5
In a match of the advanced ages, Youzhny found that golden something extra to usurp every ounce of Hewitt's willpower, winning their 238-minute slug-fest to reach the quarter-finals. Having seemed like he didn't have the legs to keep up with Youzhny, Hewitt surprised everybody by winning the second and the third sets, and even led by 4-1 in the fourth. As he said, he "left it all out there.". But it was not enough to stop Youzhny reaching his third US Open last eight. Hewitt admitted it was "great" to have gotten so far, and gave him a lot of confidence. Can Youzhny use his own confidence boost to do much against Djokovic? We will see.
The upset
Stanislas Wawrinka [9] d. Tomas Berdych [5]
Don't count out big Stan. That's what he and his one-handed backhand told us after the last Swiss man standing pulled off a four-set upset of the big-hitting Berdych. The Czech, in a houndstooth cap and very questionable shorts, always seemed to have the capacity to out-hit Berdych for winners, but lacked the execution, and instead Wawrinka, all in black, wielded his backhand and forehand with aplomb, reaching the quarter-finals for only the second time.
Big wins
Victoria Azarenka d. Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
When she's on her game, there are few players more enjoyable to watch than Ana Ivanovic. Skipping in and out of forehands gracefully, crunching winners that Azarenka didn't even think about moving for, she whipped the first set from under Azarenka's nose, celebrating with full body fist-pumps and looking like there was nowhere else she was more suited to being. 16 breaks of serve followed as Azarenka grabbed the second, served for the third, Ivanovic broke back, got broken to be beaten. 9 out of 19 break points converted for Azarenka, 7 out of 13 for Ivanovic. The power of the return game.
Li Na d. Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2
China has a player in the US Open semi-finals for the first time after Li Na survived a fightback from the unknown quantity that is Ekaterina Makarova. It looked like it was all going Li's way as she claimed the first set, but Makarova fought back. In the end, Li fired 44 winners to Makarova's 15 to become the first Chinese player to reach the last four in US Open history.
Andy Murray d. Denis Istomin 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Murray was not at his best against precisely the type of opponent whom has disrupted him in the past, especially on these hard courts. But the defending champ fought back against the powerful lefty, in the end doing what he had to to progress.
Beat down
Serena Williams wasted no time at all, crushing Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals. The last time there was a double bagel at this stage? I don't know.
It was a similar story for Novak Djokovic, who unmanned Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-0,6-0 in a performance that included Djokovic winning the first 24 points on his serve in a row, something he confessed he didn't think he had ever done before.
Tweet of the day
I hit the luckiest tennis shot of my life this evening #shank #grease but what is the saying about luck and working hard?
@andy_murray
Quote of the day
"Personally wouldn't try something like that at that stage, but he did, and, yeah, it was a bit surprising."
Andy Murray on Denis Istomin's tweener
Did you see of the day
Lleyton Hewitt make a shot from on the ground in the midst of his fifth set. He took a mid-game timeout to stop the bleeding.
Come back tomorrow for
ARTHUR ASHE
12pm - Roberta Vinci [10] v Flavia Pennettta
FB - Richard Gasquet [8] v David Ferrer [4]
7pm - Daniela Hantuchova v Victoria Azarenka [2]
FB - Tommy Robredo [19] v Rafael Nadal [2]
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
12pm - Ivan Dodig / Marcelo Melo [10] v Treat Huey / Dominic Inglot [16]
FB - Sania Mirza / Zheng Jie [10] v Su-Wei Hsieh / Peng Shuai [4]
FB - Anabel Medina Garrigues / Bruno Soares [5] / Abigail Spears / Santiago Gonzalez
FB - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova / Lucie Safarova [11] v Serena & Venus Williams
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For all the reports and results from Flushing Meadows, visit the Official US Open website
