Williams sisters, Murray, del Potro seek QF spots at US Open

Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, left, greets Dominic Thiem, of Austria, after Thiem retired in the second set because of an injury during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in New.

The Czech player, who had never before progressed into the quarter-finals, sealed a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (3) in just under two-and-a-half hours at Flushing Meadows in NY. After Pliskova frittered away one with a double-fault, Williams steeled herself and stepped up, smacking a volley victor, cross-court backhand victor and two forehand winners to break back for 6-all.

Halep, who reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows a year ago, edged ahead in her rivalry with Suarez Navarro, now leading their head-to-head series 6-5.

Pliskova took control of the match as she went an early break up in the third, but her 36-year-old opponent fought back to take the decider to 4-4.

Now it is 10th-seeded Pliskova, who will play Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska or Croatia’s Ana Konjuh in the quarters, who would need to complete a Williams double to reach her first grand slam final.

Del Potro had won the first set 6-3 and was up a break in the second.

Fifth seed Simona Halep joined Pliskova in the last eight after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 7-5. Her victory gives her 308 match wins in Grand Slam tournaments, one more than Roger Federer for the all-time lead.

Del Potro could face third-seeded Stan Wawrinka, who he defeated at Wimbledon, in the quarterfinals.

In the tie-break, Williams did not so much run out of gas as ideas against Pliskova, who came into the year’s final grand slam off the biggest victory of her career in Cincinnati, where she upset Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final. For once, an injury was aiding del Potro, not hindering him. “I got the power from the crowd in every match”.

“But”, del Potro added, “anything can happen in this event for me”. News stories displayed here appear in our category for Sports and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. Please see our terms of service for more information.