2016 U.S. Open Day Seven Preview: Field Narrows as the Round of 16 Begins

September 4, 2016 | By Eric C. Peck
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Day Seven of the 2016 U.S. Open will feature the start of the Round of 16, as high winds and rain from Tropical Storm Hermine may impact the schedule in Flushing Meadows.

Despite the forecast, things get underway at 11:00 a.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the 13th-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain faces Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. Konta, who overcame heat exhaustion earlier in the week, defeated Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1 Friday to punch her ticket to the Round of 16. The unseeded Sevastova has been mowing down the competition in Flushing Meadows, having yet to drop a single set and scoring a huge upset earlier in the week over the three seed, Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza. In their lone career meeting, Konta holds a win over Sevastova, back in 2013 at the Aussie Open qualifiers.

Immediately following on Ashe, it will be American Madison Keys, the number eight seed, looking to stop the strong run of the unseeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki. Keys mounted a monumental comeback Friday, a dramatic 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-3) win over Naomi Osaka of Japan, coming back from 1-5 down in the third set.

“No matter what the score was, it was always just trying to get back in the match,” said Keys. “Once I was able to get a little bit of momentum, I felt like I found my game a bit more. At that point, I knew I had to kind of step up or else I was going to be going home.”

And going home was not an option for Keys in her Sunday matchup with Wozniacki, the first ever meeting in their careers.

“I have known Caroline for a while. I don't think we have ever really practiced or anything, but she's obviously a great player,” said Keys of her Round of 16 opponent. “She loves playing at the U.S. Open and has done well here. She's going to be tough. It's always interesting once you get to the fourth round because everyone has won matches and they're feeling very confident.”

Roberta Vinci of Italy, the seven seed and 2015 U.S. Open runner-up, will meet the unseeded Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko on Sunday to kick things off on Louis Armstrong at 11:00 a.m. Vinci is coming off a three-set win over Carina Witthoeft Friday that took 27 games to decide, where she won 67 of her first serve points and 53 percent of her second serve points. Tsurenko was an upset winner over the 12th-seeded Dominka Cibulkova, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Friday to earn her spot in the Round of 16 and was a 6-0, 6-4 winner in opening round action over the 21st-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu. Vinci and Tsurenko have met only once in their careers, earlier this year in Doha, a 6-2, 6-1 win by Vinci.

Rounding out the women’s singles Sunday, under the lights at Ashe at 7:00 p.m., the second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany faces the 14th-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Kerber has her sights set on the world number one spot as she moves into the second week in Flushing Meadows, and in Kvitova, is facing her first seeded opponent of the tournament. Kvitova has dominated her opposition en route to the Round of 16, having yet to drop a set to her first three opponents, Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey and Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine.

In the two have split eight career meetings, the most recent a win by Kerber at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in April on clay in the semis.

“It will be a good match, I think. We had great matches in the past and it will be a good challenge,” said Kerber of Kvitova. “It's easy not look ahead, because now it's the next opponent and then we will see what's happen. It's always important to play step by step, day by day. The next one is Petra. Then we will see what will happen after.”

On the men’s side of the draw and shooting for spots in the quarterfinals, four matches highlight Sunday’s schedule.

On Sunday afternoon at Ashe, the fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain will meet the number 24 seed, 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille. So far in Flushing, we have seen the Nadal of old, as the Spaniard has yet to drop a set in his first three matches over Denis Istomin, Andreas Seppi and Andrey Kuznetsov. Pouille came from a set down to beat Mikhail Kukushkin in the opening round and has played in two five-set marathons in the second and third rounds, a three-plus hour second round win over Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli and a near three-and-a-half hour victory over the 15-seed, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. In their only career meeting, Nadal took the victory on clay in 2015 at the Monte Carlo Masters.

“He is a great player … he is young,” said Nadal of Pouille. “He has all the shots … a good serve, good forehand, good backhand. He's a tough opponent. I practiced with him a couple of times and I played with him a long time ago. I know he's able to play a very high level and is going to be a very tough match. I need to be ready for the match if I want to keep going.”

At Louis Armstrong Stadium, it will be the number nine seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France facing American Jack Sock, the 26 seed. Tsonga needed just 90 minutes to defeat his opening round opponent, Guido Andreozzi, but was tested in round two by Australian James Duckworth in a three hour match. Big South African Kevin Anderson also tested the stamina of Tsonga in round three in a near three-hour match, a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 win by Tsonga. Sock will undoubtedly have the Flushing Meadows crowd behind him as he come into Sunday after a huge upset Friday over the number seven seed and 2014 U.S. Open champion, Marin Cilic.

“He's a very established player,” said Sock of Tsonga. “He has been in the top 10 for a long time and had great success at tournaments of all levels and I'm going to have to obviously bring out my best stuff again to have a chance. I think he's a guy who likes to lean on the ball … likes to be attacking and dictating. If I can throw some variety in there, serve well again, and get into some return games, the chances go up for me.”

In their only career meeting, Tsonga defeated Sock last year at the Madrid Masters on clay in the Round of 32.

Kicking things off on the Grandstand at 11:00 a.m., Frenchman and 10th-seeded Gael Monfils faces the unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Monfils has rolled into the Round of 16, having yet to drop a set in wins over Gilles Muller, Jan Satral and Nicolas Almagro. Baghdatis was a winner in round one over Facundo Bagnis when Bagnis was forced to retire, and has had a tough road since. He upended the 32nd-seeded Benoit Paire in round two, and in the third round, defeated American Ryan Harrison in nearly three hours. Monfils holds a slight 2-1 lifetime advantage over Baghdatis, their last meeting in Cincinnati in August, a 7-5, 6-0 win in the Round of 32 by Monfils.

Closing out Sunday under the lights at Ashe will be defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic as he faces Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund. The 21-year-old Edmund dominated his first two matches, an opening round upset over the 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet, and followed that up with another dominating performance against American Ernesto Escobedo. He was not done knocking off Americans yet, as he was tested in round three by John Isner, but withstood the big American 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 for the win and meeting with the world number one and top seed in Flushing.

Djokovic’s path to the Round of 16 has been a bit easier. After withstanding a tough test from Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in round one, he played a total of 31 minutes since. His round two opponent, Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, withdrew due to an arm injury, and Djokovic was leading 4-2 in round three against Russian Mikhail Youzhny when he was forced to retire.

“This particular situation I never had in my Grand Slam career,” said Djokovic of his shortened work week. “But considering the stage of the season, the amount of matches I've played, and what I've been through with my body, I think it's actually good to have some days off and then shorter matches from one side.”

Earlier this year at the Miami Open, Djokovic was a straight-sets winner over Edmund, 6-3, 6-3.

Click here for the full schedule for Day Seven of the 2016 U.S. Open.


Eric C. Peck
Editor-in-Chief, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Eric C. Peck is Editor-in-Chief of Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by e-mail at eric@litennismag.com

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