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Novak Djokovic remains sovereign in New York and completes the quarter-finals. That happened on the eighth day of the US Open.
Novak Djokovic had three hours of hard work to do on “Labor Day” until his 1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 2 victory over Jenson Brooksby (ATP 99) from the USA was certain. The 20-year-old Californian offered two sets of bitter resistance at the world’s number 1 Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was sold out for the first time. For Djokovic it was the 79th victory in Flushing Meadows, which he drew level with Andre Agassi. Only Jimmy Connors (98) and Roger Federer (89) celebrated more victories at the US Open than the Serb, who is still three victories short of winning the Grand Slam. In the quarter-finals, Djokovic will meet the Italian Matteo Berrettini, whom he defeated in four sets in the Wimbledon final.
Zverev’s winning streak continues
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev continued his winning streak in the round of 16. At 6: 4, 6: 4, 7: 6 (9: 7) against the 20-year-old South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner, the 24-year-old from Hamburg celebrated his 15th victory in a row after parrying five set balls in the third round. The next opponent of last year’s finalist Zverev is the South African Lloyd Harris (ATP 46), who won the duel against Reilly Opelka in four sets. Harris knocked out three laws on the way to his biggest career success.
Sakkari completes quarter-finals
Maria Sakkari (WTA 18) was the last player to reach the quarter-finals at a late hour. The 26-year-old Greek prevailed at 2.14 a.m. local time and after a three and a half hour marathon game against the Canadian Bianca Andreescu 6: 7 (2: 7), 7: 6 (8: 6), 6: 3. For Andreescu, after her triumph in 2019 and ten wins in a row, it was the first defeat in Flushing Meadows. In 2020, the 21-year-old from Ontario had to refrain from participating for health reasons, and due to a shoulder and meniscus injury, she stayed away from the tour from November 2019 to February 2021. In the quarter-finals, Sakkari, a possible semi-final opponent of Belinda Bencic, will face the Czech Karolina Pliskova, the 2016 US Open finalist.
Opening victory for Scilipoti
Sebastianna Scilipoti, the only Swiss woman to compete in the main field of junior women, started the individual competition with a win. The 18-year-old beat the American Eleana Yu in three sets in the first round. Scilipoti grew up in Geneva and trains in Barcelona and at Swiss Tennis in Biel. Her role model is the American Sloane Stephens. In the junior field, Jérôme Kym represents the colors of Swiss Tennis.
