New York: Second seed Dominic Thiem of Austria defeated 2014 champion Marin Cilic (Croatia) 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to go through to the US Open men’s singles Round-of-16.
At the Arthur Ashe Stadium here, Thiem was dominant in the first two sets, but Cilic found his bearings in the third. Thiem hit 17 winners, committed just four unforced errors and broke serve four times in the opening two sets. However, Cilic made some sort of a comeback by winning the third set.
The Croat threatened to build his momentum in the fourth set, but Thiem saved three break points at 3-2. The latter then crucially broke for 4-2 and got past the finish line with ease.
Meanwhile, third seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia breezed past American Jeffrey John Wolf 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to make it to the pre-quarterfinals.
After saving six match points to stun fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday, Borna Coric is striking the ball like a man who’s playing with house money.
The No. 27 seed produced his most dominant performance of the tournament on Sunday, pushing Jordan Thompson around the court to prevail 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Coric broke new ground with his first quarter-final appearance at a Grand Slam.
I started the match very good. From 5-3 [in the first set], I maybe choked a little bit, but that’s normal. This is the biggest chance in my career to get to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, Coric said on court after the match. I was more relaxed after the first set and started to play much better.
Alexander Zverev became the first German to reach the US Open quarter-finals in 13 years on Sunday, charging past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
The fifth seed produced his best level on Louis Armstrong Stadium, striking 38 winners in one hour and 34 minutes to reach his first quarter-final in New York. Zverev was particularly impressive on serve, landing 18 aces and saving six of seven break points to keep his bid for a first Grand Slam title alive.
After the match, Zverev was asked to name the last German man to reach the quarter-finals in New York. The 23-year-old quickly responded with the correct answer: Tommy Haas.