The Joker walks off for the 2nd time in the tournament......Youzhny is unable to finish.
Marcos Baghdatis takes out American Ryan Harrison.....6-3...7-6...1-6...6-1
Little Jo Konta makes the round of 16.....She rolls over Belinda Bencic.....6-2...6-1
American John Isner is upset by the Brit Kyle Edmund......6-4...3-6...6-2...7-6
Gael is on a quiet roll.....I`m noticing.....He takes out Almagro in straight sets......6-4....6-2...6-4
Petra Kvitova Takes out the Ukraine Elina Svitolina.....6-3...6-4
Rafa playing like the Rafa of old......Sweet 16 bound.....He dusts off the Russian Kuznetsov.....6-1...6-4...6-1
2016 US Open sets attendance records on Day 5.
The US Open remains the hottest ticket in town this summer, and Friday saw more fans than ever pass through the turnstiles to see the biggest tennis stars in the world.
The event set records for day session attendance, night session attendance and total single-day attendance on Day 5, topping 40,000 fans during the day and going over 25,000 fans in the evening session for the first time. In total, 65,286 fans came to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday, including 40,280 for the day and 25,006 in the eventing.
With top names like defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2016 women’s finalist Roberta Vinci, top French seeds Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 16-time Grand Slam doubles champions Mike and Bob Bryan in action, there was something for everyone to enjoy.
As well as third-round men’s and women’s singles action, Day 5 also saw the second round of doubles, the continuation of the first round of mixed doubles and the qualifying tournament for the boys’ and girls’ junior competitions.
Friday’s record attendance mark surpassed the previous single-session record of 38,780, set twice over Labor Day weekend in 2014, on Saturday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Aug. 31. The previous night session record was 24,991, set on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, and the prior single-day attendance mark was 63,471, set on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014.
The US Open remains the hottest ticket in town this summer, and Friday saw more fans than ever pass through the turnstiles to see the biggest tennis stars in the world.
The event set records for day session attendance, night session attendance and total single-day attendance on Day 5, topping 40,000 fans during the day and going over 25,000 fans in the evening session for the first time. In total, 65,286 fans came to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday, including 40,280 for the day and 25,006 in the eventing.
With top names like defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2016 women’s finalist Roberta Vinci, top French seeds Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 16-time Grand Slam doubles champions Mike and Bob Bryan in action, there was something for everyone to enjoy.
As well as third-round men’s and women’s singles action, Day 5 also saw the second round of doubles, the continuation of the first round of mixed doubles and the qualifying tournament for the boys’ and girls’ junior competitions.
Friday’s record attendance mark surpassed the previous single-session record of 38,780, set twice over Labor Day weekend in 2014, on Saturday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Aug. 31. The previous night session record was 24,991, set on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, and the prior single-day attendance mark was 63,471, set on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014.
The GOAT cruises past Johanna Larsson.....Taking names,smashing records.....6-2...6-1.....You go Girl!
Simona has to fight today.....But she moves on in 3 sets over Timea Bobos....6-1...2-6...6-4
#4 seed is on to the 4th round.....Agnieszka Radwańska easily beats Caroline Garcia.....6-2...6-3
Radwanska breezes into fourth round.
WHAT HAPPENED: Agnieszka Radwanska stayed in the conversation as one of the three players who can become world No. 1 at the conclusion of the US Open by breezing past Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3 into the fourth round on a windy and overcast Saturday.
No. 4 seed Radwanska has an outside chance of attaining the top ranking spot if she were to reach the final and No. 2 Angelique Kerber does not make the fourth round. If Kerber does, Radwanska would need to win the title. World No. 1 Serena Williams can end all of the conversation by winning the tournament.
Radwanska was not pressed much by an error prone Garcia in the 70-minute match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The 25th-seeded Frenchwoman committed 34 unforced errors, spraying ground strokes all around the court and never getting much rhythm on her serve. The counter-punching Radwanska was content to keep the ball in play, making just five unforced errors and a mere nine winners.
“I did a good job today from start to the end," said Radwanska, 27, who is back into the fourth round for the fifth time and for the first time since 2013. “It was a very solid effort.”
The Polish veteran grabbed control of the match by running off seven consecutive games from 3-2 in the first set to 3-0 in the final set. She opened the steak with three love games.
Garcia did manage to claw back to make it tighter in the final set, as she abandoned trying to out steady Radwanska from the baseline and began to hit out and move to the net more frequently. She got to 3-4 in the second set, but Radwanska closed out the match by holding serve and breaking in the last game.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN: Lacking the fanfare of others, Radwanska has quietly gone about putting together another winning season. She has won two titles, most recently at New Haven last week, is the Emirates Airline US Open Series points leader, and made the Australian Open semifinals and the fourth round at the French Open and Wimbledon. Radwanska is also used to playing into the second week of Grand Slam tournaments. She was the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, twice made the Australian Open semifinals and the French Open quarterfinals once.
QUESTION: With Venus Williams and Serena Williams likely looming as quarterfinal and semifinal opponents respectively, does Radwanska have the firepower and physical strength to beat them?
WHAT HAPPENED: Agnieszka Radwanska stayed in the conversation as one of the three players who can become world No. 1 at the conclusion of the US Open by breezing past Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3 into the fourth round on a windy and overcast Saturday.
No. 4 seed Radwanska has an outside chance of attaining the top ranking spot if she were to reach the final and No. 2 Angelique Kerber does not make the fourth round. If Kerber does, Radwanska would need to win the title. World No. 1 Serena Williams can end all of the conversation by winning the tournament.
Radwanska was not pressed much by an error prone Garcia in the 70-minute match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The 25th-seeded Frenchwoman committed 34 unforced errors, spraying ground strokes all around the court and never getting much rhythm on her serve. The counter-punching Radwanska was content to keep the ball in play, making just five unforced errors and a mere nine winners.
“I did a good job today from start to the end," said Radwanska, 27, who is back into the fourth round for the fifth time and for the first time since 2013. “It was a very solid effort.”
The Polish veteran grabbed control of the match by running off seven consecutive games from 3-2 in the first set to 3-0 in the final set. She opened the steak with three love games.
Garcia did manage to claw back to make it tighter in the final set, as she abandoned trying to out steady Radwanska from the baseline and began to hit out and move to the net more frequently. She got to 3-4 in the second set, but Radwanska closed out the match by holding serve and breaking in the last game.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN: Lacking the fanfare of others, Radwanska has quietly gone about putting together another winning season. She has won two titles, most recently at New Haven last week, is the Emirates Airline US Open Series points leader, and made the Australian Open semifinals and the fourth round at the French Open and Wimbledon. Radwanska is also used to playing into the second week of Grand Slam tournaments. She was the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, twice made the Australian Open semifinals and the French Open quarterfinals once.
QUESTION: With Venus Williams and Serena Williams likely looming as quarterfinal and semifinal opponents respectively, does Radwanska have the firepower and physical strength to beat them?
Halep digs out of a third-set hole to avoid upset.
WHAT HAPPENED: At the start of her third-round match on Saturday, Romanian No. 5 seed Simona Halep appeared poised to roll through what started as a one-sided match against No. 31 seed Timea Babos. But when the Hungarian suddenly came alive during the second set, the match quickly became a fight for the third set and a spot in the US Open Round of 16.
When the dust had settled and both players left everything they had on the court, Halep carried the final momentum swing all the way to the finish line, taking a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win to reach the fourth round.
Halep’s 24-minute demolition of the Hungarian in the first set must have awoken the sleeping giant in Babos, and by the second set, Babos was no longer playing points on the defensive as she did for much of the first. In fact, she appeared to be a completely different player. She began stepping in, attacking the ball and stringing Halep across the court to produce an aggressive all-court game for which the frustrated Romanian had no answer.
When Babos leveled the match to force a third, her momentum carried her to a 3-1 advantage until costly errors allowed Halep to regain the lead at 4-3 for the first time since the first set. The two traded games until Babos succumbed to the pressure and hit her third double fault on match point.
WHAT IT MEANS: Halep is having a strong summer that saw her win the title in Montreal and reach the semifinals at Cincinnati. Since the start of Roland Garros, she has now compiled a 23-3 record on tour. Her next opponent will be No. 11 seed Carla Suarez Navarro in the Round of 16, with a potential meeting against top seed Serena Williams in the quarters should they both advance.
This year marks the third time in seven appearances that Halep has reached the fourth round or better in New York. Last year, she went deep into the second week to reach the semifinals.
Babos’ loss brings her to a record of 0-7 against Top 5 opponents in her career, and 0-3 against Halep. The Hungarian leaves the US Open with a career-best result, as she had never reached the third round of a major until this week.
THE QUESTION: Do you think Halep has what it takes to match or surpass her semifinal result from last year’s event?
WHAT HAPPENED: At the start of her third-round match on Saturday, Romanian No. 5 seed Simona Halep appeared poised to roll through what started as a one-sided match against No. 31 seed Timea Babos. But when the Hungarian suddenly came alive during the second set, the match quickly became a fight for the third set and a spot in the US Open Round of 16.
When the dust had settled and both players left everything they had on the court, Halep carried the final momentum swing all the way to the finish line, taking a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win to reach the fourth round.
Halep’s 24-minute demolition of the Hungarian in the first set must have awoken the sleeping giant in Babos, and by the second set, Babos was no longer playing points on the defensive as she did for much of the first. In fact, she appeared to be a completely different player. She began stepping in, attacking the ball and stringing Halep across the court to produce an aggressive all-court game for which the frustrated Romanian had no answer.
When Babos leveled the match to force a third, her momentum carried her to a 3-1 advantage until costly errors allowed Halep to regain the lead at 4-3 for the first time since the first set. The two traded games until Babos succumbed to the pressure and hit her third double fault on match point.
WHAT IT MEANS: Halep is having a strong summer that saw her win the title in Montreal and reach the semifinals at Cincinnati. Since the start of Roland Garros, she has now compiled a 23-3 record on tour. Her next opponent will be No. 11 seed Carla Suarez Navarro in the Round of 16, with a potential meeting against top seed Serena Williams in the quarters should they both advance.
This year marks the third time in seven appearances that Halep has reached the fourth round or better in New York. Last year, she went deep into the second week to reach the semifinals.
Babos’ loss brings her to a record of 0-7 against Top 5 opponents in her career, and 0-3 against Halep. The Hungarian leaves the US Open with a career-best result, as she had never reached the third round of a major until this week.
THE QUESTION: Do you think Halep has what it takes to match or surpass her semifinal result from last year’s event?
Birthday boy Dominic Thiem marches on by beating Pablo Carreno Busta...1-6...6-4...6-4...7-5
The talented Thiem survives a battle.
WHAT HAPPENED: No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria got off to a slow start but pulled off a hard-fought, four-set win over No. 39-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, in two hours, 50 minutes.
Thiem fell behind 5-0 in the opening set but, from the start of set two, picked up his game dramatically. Of his 47 winners in the match, 42 were hit in the last three sets. He moves on to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the second time in his young career, having also reached round four in 2014.
Thiem, who turned 23 today, will next take on the winner of the third-round match between No. 11 seed David Ferrer and 2009 US Open champ Juan Martin del Potro,
“Of course, it was the perfect present for me on my birthday,” Thiem said of his win, shortly before the crowd out on the Grandstand sang "Happy Birthday" to him.
In the 64-minute, dramatic fourth set, Thiem twice broke Carreno Busta to gain an advantage, only to be broken right back. Serving at 5-5 in a marathon 18-point game, Thiem saved three break points, two with forehand winners, and finally held serve with back-to-back forehand-volley winners.
In fact, throughout the match, Thiem struggled to separate himself from the Spaniard, who came into the match with plenty of confidence, having won Winston-Salem for his first career title the week before the Open. Serving at 5-3, Thiem failed to convert on two set points and was broken, only to return the favor and break Carreno Busta in the tenth game to take the set. In the third set, The No. 8 seed scored just one break, again in the tenth game, breaking the Spaniard at love to go up two sets to one.
WHAT IT MEANS: Thiem, who has yet to face a seed here, will benefit from this hard-fought win. While he was one of the hottest players on tour in the first half of the year, winning four titles and reaching the semis at the French Open, he hasn’t seen a lot of court time since. He lost in the second round at Wimbledon, and out of his three summer events heading into the Open, he lost in the opening round twice, including having to withdraw in the first round at the Rogers Cup with a hip injury.
He did not look sharp in the early stages of his match with Correna Busta, but his game certainly came around, and it bodes well for his success going forward.
THE QUESTION: Thiem is considered one of the game’s most talented young stars. Is he mature enough at this point in his career to be considered a legitimate threat here?
WHAT HAPPENED: No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria got off to a slow start but pulled off a hard-fought, four-set win over No. 39-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, in two hours, 50 minutes.
Thiem fell behind 5-0 in the opening set but, from the start of set two, picked up his game dramatically. Of his 47 winners in the match, 42 were hit in the last three sets. He moves on to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the second time in his young career, having also reached round four in 2014.
Thiem, who turned 23 today, will next take on the winner of the third-round match between No. 11 seed David Ferrer and 2009 US Open champ Juan Martin del Potro,
“Of course, it was the perfect present for me on my birthday,” Thiem said of his win, shortly before the crowd out on the Grandstand sang "Happy Birthday" to him.
In the 64-minute, dramatic fourth set, Thiem twice broke Carreno Busta to gain an advantage, only to be broken right back. Serving at 5-5 in a marathon 18-point game, Thiem saved three break points, two with forehand winners, and finally held serve with back-to-back forehand-volley winners.
In fact, throughout the match, Thiem struggled to separate himself from the Spaniard, who came into the match with plenty of confidence, having won Winston-Salem for his first career title the week before the Open. Serving at 5-3, Thiem failed to convert on two set points and was broken, only to return the favor and break Carreno Busta in the tenth game to take the set. In the third set, The No. 8 seed scored just one break, again in the tenth game, breaking the Spaniard at love to go up two sets to one.
WHAT IT MEANS: Thiem, who has yet to face a seed here, will benefit from this hard-fought win. While he was one of the hottest players on tour in the first half of the year, winning four titles and reaching the semis at the French Open, he hasn’t seen a lot of court time since. He lost in the second round at Wimbledon, and out of his three summer events heading into the Open, he lost in the opening round twice, including having to withdraw in the first round at the Rogers Cup with a hip injury.
He did not look sharp in the early stages of his match with Correna Busta, but his game certainly came around, and it bodes well for his success going forward.
THE QUESTION: Thiem is considered one of the game’s most talented young stars. Is he mature enough at this point in his career to be considered a legitimate threat here?
