September 3, 2013 | By Eric C. Peck
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d2lkdGg6MTAwJTtoZWlnaHQ6YXV0bzt3aWR0aDphdXRvO3RyYW5zaXRpb246dHJhbnNmb3JtIDAuMjVzIGVhc2V9LnRiLWltYWdlIC50Yi1pbWFnZS1jYXB0aW9uLWZpdC10by1pbWFnZXtkaXNwbGF5OnRhYmxlfS50Yi1pbWFnZSAudGItaW1hZ2UtY2FwdGlvbi1maXQtdG8taW1hZ2UgLnRiLWltYWdlLWNhcHRpb257ZGlzcGxheTp0YWJsZS1jYXB0aW9uO2NhcHRpb24tc2lkZTpib3R0b219IH0g
Two women’s quarterfinals matches take center stage Wednesday on Day 10 of the 2013 U.S. Open, as the men’s and women’s fields shrink even further and the road to the finals narrows. Sunny skies and temperatures reaching a high of 80 should prove to be favorable for the contenders throughout the day. Beginning at noon EST at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it will be an all-Italian battle as the number 10 seed Roberta Vinci faces Flavia Pennetta. In eight career matches, the two Italian women each have four victories, the last coming three years ago, a 6-1, 6-1 second round win by Pennetta at the 2010 French Open.
Under the lights at Ashe, it will be number two-seeded Victoria Azarenka taking on Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova and Azarenka have met four times over their careers, splitting the lifetime head-to-head at two wins apiece, meeting most recently at the BNP Paribas Tennis Open Indian Wells in March, a win by Azarenka. Hantuchova, currently ranked 48th in the world, lost in the first round at this year’s other three Grand Slams. Azarenka is 39-4 on the year so far, winning three titles in the process, the Australian Open in January, defeating Serena Williams for the Qatar title in February, and in August, defeating Serena again for the championship in Cincinnati.
Also at Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday, the men’s singles field will lose two more contenders, as the first quarterfinals match of the day will feature the eighth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet as he faces the number four seed, Spain’s David Ferrer. Gasquet is making his first U.S. Open quarterfinal appearance, as Ferrer brings an 8-1 career head-to-head record into the match against Gasquet. They last met at the Open just last year in the fourth round when Ferrer won in straight sets.
Under the lights at Ashe, it will be the number 19-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain facing fellow countryman Rafael Nadal, the number two seed. Nadal holds a 6-0 lifetime advantage against Robredo (13-1 in sets) and he is undefeated on hard courts (19-0) this season. Nadal has not lost serve in his four matches en route to his sixth U.S. Open quarterfinal appearance, holding all 56 service games. Overall, Nadal’s serving streak is 71 games in a row. He hasn’t lost serve since the second set in the semifinals against Tomas Berdych at the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati on Aug. 17. Nadal leads the ATP World Tour this season with nine titles and a 57-3 match record (19-0 on hard courts). He is 20-4 lifetime in Grand Slam quarterfinals matches. Robredo, who defeated Roger Federer in the Round of 16, is playing in his seventh career Grand Slam quarterfinal and is trying to reach his first semifinal.
Additional highlights on Wednesday include, in women’s singles action, the unseeded Venus & Serena Williams facing the 11th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia & Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in third round action at Louis Armstrong Stadium. In mixed doubles semifinals action, it will be the seventh-seeded team of Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic teaming with Max Mirnyi of Belarus to face the duo of Kristina Mladenovic of France & Canada’s Daniel Nestor on the Grandstand.
In boy’s junior action, it will be local Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y. facing the second-seeded Italian Gianluigi Quinzi kicking things off at 11:00 a.m. on Court 7. Rubin will pull double duty, returning to Court 7 after a break in boys’ doubles action, teaming with Clement Geens of Belgium against the German duo of Johannes Haerteis & Hannes Wagner. On Tuesday, Rubin was a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Wagner to open the first round of the boy’s junior draw.
Click here to view the full Day 10 Schedule of Play at the 2013 U.S. Open.
