August 31, 2013 | By Eric C. Peck
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d2lkdGg6MTAwJTtoZWlnaHQ6YXV0bzt3aWR0aDphdXRvO3RyYW5zaXRpb246dHJhbnNmb3JtIDAuMjVzIGVhc2V9LnRiLWltYWdlIC50Yi1pbWFnZS1jYXB0aW9uLWZpdC10by1pbWFnZXtkaXNwbGF5OnRhYmxlfS50Yi1pbWFnZSAudGItaW1hZ2UtY2FwdGlvbi1maXQtdG8taW1hZ2UgLnRiLWltYWdlLWNhcHRpb257ZGlzcGxheTp0YWJsZS1jYXB0aW9uO2NhcHRpb24tc2lkZTpib3R0b219IH0g
On Day Six of the 2013 U.S. Open, a handful of American hopefuls saw their dreams of Open glory dashed as the men’s singles field dwindled and the Round of 16 took final shape.
On the men’s side of the draw, it was number 13 seed John Isner who was knocked out of contention Saturday afternoon, falling to the number 22 seed, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. For the second consecutive year, Kohlschreiber knocked off Isner, denying the top-ranked American a trip to the Round of 16, with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) win in a near three-hour affair. Kohlschreiber will next face world number two Rafael Nadal for a berth in his second Grand Slam quarterfinal, with Nadal holding a very commanding 9-1 lifetime record against Kohlschreiber. Nadal has made it through to the fourth round of the Open without losing serve, and on Saturday, sent Croatian Ivan Dodig home after a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win.
"My serve is working, but I am not serving at 130 miles per hour every time,” said Nadal. “So it’s working because I am playing well from the baseline. It’s working because I am serving with the right percentage. It’s working for the first three matches. We’ll see if I am able to keep working."
“It was more of a fatigue thing, which was my own fault,” said Isner after his match. “I felt like I wore myself out getting charged up out there. It’s hard to explain, but I used too much energy doing that. I was pretty gassed there. Had I kept calm, I think I could still be out there right now.”
Twenty-year-old American Jack Sock fell 3-6, 7-6(7-1), 6-1, 6-2 to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic on Saturday afternoon. Tipsarevic advances to face the number four seed David Ferrer in the Round of 16. Ferrer got past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Saturday, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
With Sock and Isner now out of contention, the final men’s American hopeful remains Milwaukee native Tim Smyczek who faces France’s Marcel Granollers on Sunday. Should Smyczek fall on Sunday, it would mark the first time in the Open era that no American male has reached the fourth round.
Also advancing on Saturday was the number 10 seed, Canadian Milos Raonic who defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Raonic next faces the number eight seed, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who advanced to the Round of 16 for the fifth time in his career when Dmitry Tursunov of Russia retired down 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 4-2.
“I was coming forward. I was a little bit sloppy at the net at times,” said Raonic after his win over Lopez. “I wasn’t taking care of the opportunities I had there. I started cleaning things up from the baseline. I was pretty sound and served pretty well, and the return was getting better and better throughout the match.”
The night ended with Roger Federer with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino. Mannarino was on an impressive run, scoring victories over Tommy Robredo of Spain, the number 19 seed. Robredo was a 7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 winner Saturday over Great Britain’s Daniel Evans, a man who had so far ousted both Bernard Tomic and scored a huge round one upset over the 11th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan.
