Djokovic in flawless zone as US Open heats up

World number one races, Murray struggles into quarter-finals.

NEW YORK:

World number one Novak Djokovic raced into the US Open quarter-finals for the loss of just three games while defending champion Andy Murray was again involved in a four-set duel.

Top seeded Djokovic, the 2011 champion, wrapped up a place in his 18th successive grand slam quarter-final when he crushed Spanish world number 43 Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.

Andy Murray, the third seed, reached the quarter-finals for a third successive year with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin, the 64th-ranked Uzbek.

Djokovic will next tackle Russian 21st-seed Mikhail Youzhny, over whom he has a 5-3 career lead.

“I definitely played one of the best matches that I’ve played in my life here at the Arthur Ashe Stadium,” said Djokovic. “It was three-all in the first set and then I managed to get the right advantage and I played flawless tennis. I had everything working, every part of my game.”

The 26-year-old Murray took his record in the majors this year to 17-1 with his second win of 2013 over Istomin. “It was tough with a strong breeze and we both struggled with our timing,” said Murray. “I tried to dictate the points when I had the wind with me and use my forehand more.”

Meanwhile, Youzhny carved out a four-hour, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-5 win over Lleyon Hewitt after trailing 4-1 in the fourth set and 5-2 in the fifth.

Swiss ninth-seed Stanislas Wawrinka reached the last eight by eliminating Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2. Wawrinka will now face Murray for a place in the last four.

Aisam, Rojer crash out of US Open

Pakistan’s tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the US Open men’s doubles event as they lost to fourth-seeds India’s Leander Paes and Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek in the quarter-final yesterday.

Aisam and Rojer were outplayed easily in the first set 6-1; however, they regrouped strongly in the second and pushed to level the set 6-6 but lost the tie-break 7-3.

The fifth seeded pair again fought hard in the third set but failed to level the match as Stepanek and Paes sealed victory 6-4.

As for Aisam, the US Open this year did not reap the same results — he has been a semi-finalist in 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, he saw the an early exit in the mixed doubles event as well, when he and his partner Zimbabwe’s Cara Black lost to Slovenian opponents 6-3, 6-1 in the first-round match.

With the US Open over for Aisam, he said that his aim for this year will be to maintain his doubles team rankings among the top 10 in the world.

“Other than the grand slams, we want to finish the year among the top teams and play in the London Masters,” Asiam told The Express Tribune. “We have done it last year as well. We are world number five in the team rankings and I want to maintain that.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.