Saturday, September 3, 2016

Tennis: Djokovic celebrating his win against Mikhail after 32 mins

Novak Djokovic reached the US Open last 16 in just 32 minutes Friday when Mikhail Youzhny retired injured before fellow two-time winner Rafael Nadal also made the fourth round for the first time in three years. Defending champion Djokovic was 4-2 ahead in the first set when Russian 34-year-old Youzhny called it quits suffering from a left hamstring injury. The outcome completed a bizarre first week for world number one Djokovic. After labouring over four sets to beat Jerzy Janowicz on Monday, he was handed a walkover into the third round when Czech opponent Jiri Vesely withdrew from their second round clash with an arm injury. “I have never had this happen before in my Grand Slam career, getting a walkover and the next match lasting just half an hour,” said Djokovic. The top seed next faces Britain's world number 84 Kyle Edmund who stunned John Isner of the United States 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) to make a Slam fourth round for the first time. Nadal reached the fourth round for the first time since 2013 – the year of his last New York title – with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov. “Andrey is always a tough opponent, he returns well and has good shots from the baseline,” said fourth seed Nadal who faces France's Lucas Pouille for a quarter-final slot. “I had a fantastic first set, a little trouble with my serve in the second but the third was key so I'm very happy.” Djokovic's very brief encounter had been preceded on Arthur Ashe Stadium by women's eighth seed Madison Keys pulling off an epic comeback to beat Japan's Naomi Osaka.