Venus loses to Pliskova in 4th round at US Open

“I didn’t expect to be in the quarters in my second grand slam after my comeback”, del Potro said, referring to a wrist injury earlier this year.

During the changeover right before the last game, it suddenly began to rain, and play was delayed only slightly before the shower passed.

He was also playing in a season-leading 70th match of the season and 21st tournament, a gruelling schedule which finally caught up with him on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.

“I don’t know if I am playing better than I was in 2009 but I will try to keep winning”.

Venus Williams failed to convert a match point and lost in the fourth round of the U.S. Open to a player a dozen years younger than her, 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. “I played very well today with few unforced errors and made it tough for Grigor”, – Murray on his dominant win against Dimitrov. “Got a lot of free points with my serve, and that was important”.

Kei Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up in NY, moved into the quarterfinals by beating No. 21 Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up, won 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Monday in the last singles match at the current Louis Armstrong Stadium, which will be torn down after the tournament. A new venue to be built to replace it. On top of that, he had played 12 sets through three rounds at the U.S. Open. At 6-foot-11, Karlovic set a tournament record with 61 aces in a five-set win in the first round.

At 36, Williams would have been the oldest woman to reach the quarterfinals at any major since Martina Navratilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994.

He’ll have a little extra recovery time for Wednesday’s quarterfinal match against the victor of Stan Wawrinka-Illya Marchenko. Wawrinka, forced to save a match point in the third round, had less trouble Monday despite a third-set wobble.

Del Potro carried his momentum into the second set, claiming an early break in the third game.

The No. 3 seed needed just under three hours to overcome Illya Marchenko 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

“It’s never good to win a match this way”, del Potro told the crowd.

The problem, however, was not a major one, the 27-year-old Argentine returning to court and eventually breaking back at 3-3, sweeping four straight games and closing out the set with a thundering ace.

He plans to have an MRI scan and added: “I couldn’t bend it too much the last three days”.

“I really don’t know what’s going on”, he said.

The towering Argentine’s path was made a little easier when Thiem retired with a knee injury trailing 6-3 3-2.

Thiem, who turned 23 on Saturday, has had a breakthrough year, reaching the French Open semifinals and cracking the top 10. He missed the tournament the past two years after surgeries on his left wrist. But his stunning run to the Olympic silver medal signaled that he is a contender again.

Del Potro got a huge break Monday when he spent only 72 minutes on court.

Juan Martín del Potro, in his quiet and ambling fashion, has built up a steady body of work on his return to the tournament he won in 2009, and, with the crowd warming to every pistol crack of his huge forehand, he enters the quarter-finals on Wednesday as a risky contender.