Andy Murray of Great Britain serves against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their singles fourth round match on day eight of the US Open on Monday. (AFP)
Former champions Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray booked a tantalizing US Open quarter-final duel on Monday with straight-sets fourth-round victories.
World number one and top seed Djokovic didn’t let Philipp Kohlschreiber stand in the way of another Grand Slam last-eight appearance, defeating the 22nd seed from Germany 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on another oppressively muggy New York day.
Eighth-seeded Scot Murray advanced with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory over ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, avenging a loss to the Frenchman in the Toronto Masters last month.
Djokovic and Murray boast a long rivalry in which the Serbian owns a 12-8 record.
They are 2-2 in Grand Slam finals, including Murray’s triumph over Djokovic in the 2012 final at Flushing Meadows for his first major crown.
“Tough match,” Murray said of the looming contest. “We’ve had a lot of long ones. We played a long one here a few years ago—I have great memories from that match.”
Djokovic reached his 22nd straight Grand Slam quarter-final, a run that stretches back to Kohlschreiber’s victory over him in the third round of the 2009 French Open.
“I’m very glad obviously that I had so many consecutive quarter-finals of Grand Slams. It says that I do value these tournaments the most and try to always perform my best tennis in them,” Djokovic said.
The Wimbledon champion looked headed for a short day’s work when he raced through the first set in 25 minutes.
But Kohlschreiber dug in, keeping his nose in front on serve and forcing Djokovic to fend off a set point in the 10th game of the second.
Djokovic did so with a stinging forehand passing shot to end a rally that sent the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd wild, then broke Kohlschreiber for a 6-5 lead.
Serving for the set Djokovic saved another break point with an off-speed service winner and having wrapped up the second set he broke Kohlschreiber to open the third and marched home from there.
“It doesn’t feel that it went very easily,” Djokovic said. “Philipp is a tough player.”
Murray broke Tsonga in the final game of each set en route to his victory, first recovering an early break in both the second and third.
Nishikori in record-tying win -Japan’s Kei Nishikori worked late, very late, to earn a quarter-final berth with a five-set win over Milos Raonic that equalled the latest finish for a match in US Open history -- 2:26 am yesterday morning.
Nishikori, the 10th seed, defeated the fifth-seeded Canadian 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
The finish time of the contest tied the record set in 1993 when Mats Wilander defeated Mikael Pernfors 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in a second-round match and tied in 2012 when Kohlschreiber beat John Isner 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a third round match in 2012.
Nishikori, the first Japanese man to break into the top 10 in the world rankings, avenged a loss to Raonic in the fourth round at Wimbledon and reached the last eight of a Grand Slam for the second time after his quarter-final run at the 2012 Australian Open.
Hindered by a toe injury in the build-up to the Open, Nishikori needed treatment for an apparent blister on his right foot early in the fourth set.
He had been unable to convert eight break chances in the third set against the big-serving Canadian, and let slip a 3-1 lead in the third-set tiebreaker to fall two sets to one down.
But Nishikori gained the only break of the fourth set in the 11th game and held to force a decisive fifth frame in which he gained the upper hand with a break for a 3-2 lead—aided by a Raonic double fault for break point.
Nishikori, the first Japanese man since Zenzo Shimidzu in 1922 to get to the last-eight in New York, wrapped it up with a backhand volley winner on his first match point, cheered on by the small crop of hardy fans still remaining in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He’ll have little time to rest before a Wednesday meeting with third-seeded Wawrinka, who beat 16th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.
Wawrinka fired 18 aces and 75 winners—to Robredo’s 19 -- saving two set points in the third-set tiebreaker and dominating the fourth set.
“It was a really tough battle today,” said Wawrinka, who also survived a tumble into the courtside seats in Armstrong Stadium when he hit the board surrounding the court at full stretch for a shot.
“From that I’m OK, I’m more tired from the running, from the match,” he said. “When you win, it’s always more easy to feel good after.”