Zverev, Kvitova Knocked out of US Open; Djokovic, Sharapova Advance
(September 1, 2018) FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – The US Open lost a few more top seeds on Saturday when No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 5 Petra Kvitova failed to advance. Former champion Maria Sharapova beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Zverev lost again in the first week of the US Open to German countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
“I lost. That’s what happened,” Zverev said.
“I mean, the second set — the first set I won. The second set was pretty even. He played a great game at 5-4 to break me. The third set, I mean, he played really well.
“I didn’t play my best throughout the whole match, I thought. But credits to him, he played very smart, a good match I thought.”
“I think I returned his serve quite well, so I was able to manage all the power and force he had to put many balls back,” Kohlschreiber said. “Then I think during the points I played with the right strategy. I played low balls, high balls, lots of angles. I think over the time he got more frustrated.
“Also the match was, I think, in my favor going a little bit more physical. We played a lot of long rallies.
“Yeah, I’m very happy how everything worked for me.”
The German veteran plays 21st seed Kei Nishikori who beat 13 seed Diego Schwartzman in four sets.
“Kei is a great guy,” said Kohlschreiber. “He doesn’t have the huge power on the serve, but he’s putting his serve with a lot of quality, clever spots, a lot of body serves. Very good backhand. He’s a great mover around the court.
“Usually I struggle a little bit more if guys take away my angle game and stuff like this.
“So, yeah, I don’t want to say I have to play very big against him, but I would say also to get sometimes broken often, but you always have the chance to come back more easy against Kei, I would say.
“Sometimes take the risk a little bit more against him. Also I saw the match now, it was tough against Schwartzman. He had to run a lot. I try to do also a very physical match. Hopefully it pays out.”
Two Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been added to the list of highly ranked women losing at the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. She lost to 26th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-5, 6-1 in the third round. Sabalenka recently won the Connecticut Open.
Now 10 of the top 13 seeds on the women’s side of the US Open are out.
The 20-year-old Sabalenka has previously never been the second round of a major. She’s in the fourth round of her first main draw of the US Open.
“I’m just so happy with my game at the moment,” she said.
“Actually, before every match, I’m a little bit nervous. But when I come on the court, I see these people which ones they support me, let’s say. I enjoy it. I enjoy the game. I didn’t have any pressure. Well, I’m just play every point.”
Maria Sharapova the 22nd seed is back in the fourth round defeating No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.
“I knew that I needed to have a better performance than my previous round,” noted the Russian. “I did just enough to win that previous match. Finished off strong, as I had mentioned.
“I think despite going into a really long first game, I thought if this is the length of time she’ll have to work for one game and win it, I mean, I just went to my service game with that perspective. I felt pretty confident throughout.
“I hit quite well, served much better. I think putting all those things together gave me a good enough scoreline.”
Last year’s French Open champion Ostapenko hit 41 unforced errors. Sharapova will play Carla Suarez Navarro next.
In the last matches of the night sessions, Novak Djokovic had an easy straight set win over Richard Gasquet, while 2014 champion Marin Cilic came back from two sets down to beat Alex de Minaur 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
