Rafael Nadal defeated shut pal Richard Gasquet for the 18th time to achieve the US Open fourth spherical on Saturday as world primary Iga Swiatek made the final 16 for a second successive yr.
Four-time champion Nadal took his file over Gasquet to an ideal 18-0 with a 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 victory to remain heading in the right direction for a twenty third Grand Slam title.
Nadal has now gained 34 straight units towards Frenchman Gasquet who he first performed as a junior.
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On Saturday, he was barely troubled, profitable the primary 9 video games of the competition earlier than Gasquet acquired on the board.
Next up for the Australian and French Open champion is twenty second seed Frances Tiafoe for a spot within the quarter-finals.
“He’s a great player, very charismatic, very fast,” stated Nadal of the American.
Tiafoe made the final 16 for a 3rd successive yr by seeing off Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-4.
The 36-year-old Nadal confirmed no in poor health results of the bloodied nostril he suffered when he by accident bounced his racquet into his face within the second spherical.
“It’s a little bit bigger than usual but it’s okay,” he joked.
Alcaraz stepping into Nadal’s footwear
Carlos Alcaraz, widely-regarded as Nadal’s Grand Slam inheritor obvious, claimed a season-leading forty seventh win regardless of breaking certainly one of his footwear.
The 19-year-old third seed defeated Jenson Brooksby of the United States 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on the again of 46 winners.
Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021, managed to interrupt certainly one of his tennis footwear as he slid to achieve a ball mid-match.
“It’s the third time that I have done this. As you can see, I do a lot of sliding,” he stated.
Alcaraz subsequent faces 2014 champion Marin Cilic who fired 26 aces and 74 winners in complete previous Britain’s Dan Evans in a 7-6 (13/11), 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-5 win.
British seventh seed Cameron Norrie made the fourth spherical for the primary time with a snug 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 win over Danish teenager Holger Rune.
He subsequent faces Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev who wanted 5 match factors to see off Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-6 (10/7).
World primary Swiatek downed unseeded Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek got here again from 1-4 down within the second set to reel off 5 successive video games towards the American who referred to as a medical trip within the first set to have her blood stress taken.
The 21-year-old Pole will face Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier of Germany for a spot within the final eight.
Swiatek has now gained three matches in a row for the primary time since capturing her second French Open in June.
“It’s not like I lost confidence or something. I still know anything can happen on these tournaments,” she stated.
Petra Kvitova defeated ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza after saving two match factors.
Kvitova got here by 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (12/10) and can tackle Jessica Pegula of the United States for a quarter-final place.
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Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova stated she had drawn inspiration from Serena Williams when the American legend saved 5 match factors earlier than ultimately being eradicated on Friday.
“I watched Serena and it was amazing how she was saving match points, so I tried to do the same today,” stated Kvitova.
Muguruza’s defeat, her sixth in seven conferences towards the Czech, left solely 4 of the highest 10 girls’s seeds within the event.
Sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, who made the semi-finals in 2021, brushed apart French qualifier Clara Burel, 6-0, 6-2 in simply 68 minutes. She will face Danielle Collins.
Pegula, the eighth seed, ended the run of Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-0.
Victoria Azarenka eased previous Petra Martic 6-3, 6-0 to arrange a last-16 conflict with 2016 finalist Karolina Pliskova who downed Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
© Agence France-Presse