Kaia Kanepi of Estonia reached the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) win over fourth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. Kanepi, seeded 31st, will play the winner of the tie between Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was a crushing end to the tournament for Jankovic, runner-up here to Serena Williams in 2008 and a former world number one, but who has yet to win a Grand Slam title. She struggled past her first two rounds and was immediately out of sorts against Kanepi due to the blustery winds that swirled around Flushing Meadows in the wake of Hurricane Earl, which passed by on Friday. Big-hiting Kanepi, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist this summer, broke serve three times in the first set and grabbed an early break in the second as she dominated the rallies.
Earlier, Rafael Nadal's bid for a career Grand Slam and Andy Murray's quest for his first Grand Slam title moved a step closer to a US Open semi-final collision course with impressive triumphs on Friday. Reigning women's champion Kim Clijsters breezed into the last 16 along with US third seed Venus Williams, whose injured world number one sister Serena was on hand to watch her elder sibling for the first time this week. Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal defeated 39th-ranked Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 to reach a third-round match against France's Gilles Simon, who beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
The top seed and Spanish world number one, trying to become only the seventh man to complete a career Grand Slam by winning his first US Open title, won the last six points of the tie-breaker and saved all seven break points he faced. British fourth seed Murray sent off Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 in a match halted about 20 minutes due to rain from nearby Hurricane Earl, which brushed the US eastern coast and brought brisk, swirling winds to the US Open.
Belgian second seed Clijsters improved her US Open win streak to 17 matches, including her only Grand Slam title runs from 2005 and 2009, taking the last 12 games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Czech Wimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova. Clijsters, who faces fellow former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the fourth round, fell behind 0-3 in 11 minutes before solving the winds.
Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner who has slid to 40th in the rankings, won the last nine games to oust French wildcard Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0 and match her best US Open run from 2007. Williams downed Luxembourg's Mandy Minella 6-2, 6-1. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams, the last woman to win back-to-back US Open titles, will face Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer for a quarter-final berth. Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, was in the stands.
Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone reached the fourth round by beating Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 7-5 with help from a Roger Federer-style between-the-legs running from the net shot in the 10th game of the last set. US men's hopefuls Sam Querrey and John Isner, who could face Murray in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively, delighted American fans with wins. Querrey, seeded 20th, beat Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 while Wimbledon marathon man Isner ousted Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.
But 18-year-old US qualifier Ryan Harrison suffered a heartbreaking ouster, squandering three match points in a fifth-set tie-breaker to help Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky win 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6). Also reaching the third round was Argentina's David Nalbandian, who missed the previous six Grand Slams with injuries but reached the third round by beating Frenchman Florent Serra 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. Collated results of Friday's women's and men's matches at the US Open tennis championships (x denotes seed):
Women (3rd round): Samantha Stosur (AUS x5) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 6-2, 6-3; Elena Dementieva (RUS x12) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x24) 7-5, 6-2; Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 6-0; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x20) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 6-1, 6-2; Francesca Schiavone (ITA x6) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6-1, 7-5; Ana Ivanovic (SRB) bt Virginie Razzano (FRA) 7-5, 6-0; Venus Williams (USA x3) bt Mandy Minella (LUX) 6-2, 6-1; Shahar Peer (ISR x16) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA x19) 6-4, 6-4.
Men (2nd round): Tommy Robredo (ESP) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA) 6-4, 6-6 retired; Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-2; Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6); Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Dustin Brown (JAM) 7-5, 6-3, 6-0; David Ferrer (ESP x10) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x12) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7/2); John Isner (USA x18) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (ESP x23) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x8) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x25) by Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; Sam Querrey (USA x20) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; David Nalbandian (ARG x31) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x29) 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Nicolas Almagro (ESP x14) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
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