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Roger Federer, the second seed, has set up a last eight meeting at the U.S Open against Gael Monfils. Federer’s 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over 17th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut was expected, but Monfils’ (20) 7-5, 7-6(6), 7-5 win over Grigor Dimitrov (7) was a shock.

Monfils has beaten Dimitrov before at the U.S Open, back in 2011 in the first round, but that was when Monfils was ranked 7 in the world, and Dimitrov was 57th. This year Dimitrov was the favorite, and he played well, however not well enough against an in-form Monfils on the back of upsetting Gasquet in the previous round. Monfils managed to play better on the big points, breaking Dimitrov 3 times, winning 3 of 4 break points. Monfils also managed to save 6 of the 7 break points against his serve.

In the other bottom half quarter-final, Marin Cilic will play Tomas Berdych in a repeat of their third round Wimbledon match. Cilic squeezed past Gilles Simon 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The Croat did well to raise his level at the end of the fifth set, going for broke on his shots, and being rewarded with the win.

Tomas Berdych, the sixth seed, overwhelmed first time slam last sixteener Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to set up the chance to get revenge over Cilic for upsetting him at Wimbledon. Berdych has been in good form, hitting 24 winners to 23 errors in his victory over Thiem, and winning 85 percent of his first service points, and will go into the match high on confidence. Cilic meanwhile has made his second quarter-final at a slam in a row, and has talked about how much better his mentality is nowadays. How big an improvement will be seen in his quarter-final with Berdych on Thursday.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Andy Murray beat Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 in the last sixteen of the U.S Open to set up a rematch of the 2012 final with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian made it into the last eight with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Murray had to navigate the tougher draw into the quarters. Tsonga had beaten him on the way to winning Toronto a few weeks ago. That was a rare victory for Tsonga though- the Frenchman trails the Scot 2-9 in their head to head, and as Murray showed in their match in New York today, he is the better big match player. In a year in which Murray has not even made a final of an ATP event, he has still managed to make the quarters in London and Melbourne, and the semis in Paris.

Along the way, the Scot has had some close shaves- Kohlschrieber in Paris anyone?-but his solid game has got him through. But against Tsonga in New York, Murray was not just solid as he claimed his first win over a top tenner since his Wimbledon final victory over Djokovic, he was inspired. Playing the aggressive tennis which has eluded him since his back injury last year, the tennis he was always told to play, but never listened to anyone until Lendl. Murray got past Tsonga with solid tennis, yes, variety, too, but more than anything he beat Tsonga with inspiration, hitting 10 forehand winners, 45 winners in all, and only 18 errors. Once upon a time, a +27 differential was the stuff of dreams for Murray fans, and that was when he was contending slam finals. Now he is bringing it out after  a year in the relative wilderness, and against the most in form opponents.

Murray took the first set, one played by both men to win than to lose as they approached the net 18 times in 70 points, when Tsonga served to stay in it at 5-6. Murray put the pressure on the return and hit Tsonga where it has hurt him most in the big matches, in the mind. Everything about Murray’s return game said I believe I can take this, and he did.

Tsonga did not wilt, though, not even in the cruel humidity of labor day in New York, and he led in both sets two and three by a break. But a break is not good enough against Murray, and the Scot broke back in the second and third sets to level, only to then break Tsonga again as he served to stay  in the match. One of the best returns in the game was simply too much for one of the best serves, and Murray will go into the clash with Djokovic on a high after dismissing one of the favorites so convincingly.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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In a week in which the top seeds on the ATP Tour have been remarkably consistent ( of the top 20 seeds, only Fabio Fognini and Ernests Gulbis have lost in the first two rounds), David Ferrer became the highest seed to be knocked out the tournament. 

The fourth seed was sent home by former top ten player Gilles Simon, seeded 26, by the score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Simon came into the match 1-5 in the pair’s head to head, but his only win had come on hard courts, a surface Ferrer had been playing well on in the run up to the U.S Open, finishing runner-up to Federer in Cincinnati.

Simon, though, is a great talent, a clean ball striker, and one of the game’s quickest and most consistent players, and not the kind of player you want to meet in the third round of a slam if you are not at your best. And Ferrer was not at his best in the first set of their third round meeting, hitting one too many forehand errors at 3-3 to go a break down.

At 5-3 Simon, Ferrer’s errors (he made 20 in all in the first set alone) and Simon’s consistency (8 winners to 6 errors over the set) combined to see Simon break and take the first set 6-3.

Ferrer did rein in his game in the second set, increasing his first serve percentage from 56% to 63, and striking 9 winners to 7 errors. He also used his return game, one of the best on the tour this season, to take advantage of Simon’s low first serve percentage of 39, to take the second set 6-3.

Ferrer, however, could not keep the improvement in his form up. In the third set, he hit only 4 winners to 11 errors and was broken 3 times. Meanwhile, though Simon’s first serve percentage was a lowly 46, he won 86% behind that delivery, and 6 of the 9 points he played behind his second serve. Simon also hit 9 winners to 3 unforced errors on his way to taking the third set 6-1.

Simon, his grip now fully extended on the match, then played marginally the better of the two in a patchy fourth set to take it 6-4 and move into the fourth round.

In other action, Marin Cilic (14) came through a battle of big servers versus Kevin Anderson (18) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Cilic won 82 percent of his first service points, and compiled a winner-errors ratio  of 33-34 compared to Anderson’s 31-53 and first service points won percentage of 65.

Cilic has been doing remarkably well this season of winning the matches he should, winning some he shouldn’t, and always giving a good performance. He will go up next against Simon, who he has a career head to head with of 0-4, and lost their last encounter in four sets at this year’s Australian Open. But prior to that match, they had not met since 2008.

With Cilic playing great tennis of late, and the surface being a touch quicker than in Melbourne, Cilic will be favorite to take the match.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are moving closer to their projected last eight showdown at the U.S Open as both men won their third round matches at the U.S Open.

Djokovic, the top seed, flew through his match against American Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. It was another top class performance from the man who slumped in his previous two events. Djokovic hit 25 winners to 19 errors, won 14 of 20 points at the net and broke his opponent seven times. The 2011 champion will face either John Isner or Philipp Kohlscheiber in the fourth round.

Andy Murray had a harder task of it, dropping the third set to Andrey Kuznetsov as he won through to the last sixteen 6-1, 7-5, 4-6. 6-2. A lapse in concentration from Murray in the third opened the door for Kuznetsov, but the Russian was too hit and miss in the fourth while Murray had too much variety and was too solid.

Murray will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the right to battle Djokovic. Tsonga moved into the fourth round with a straightforward 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Pablo Carreno Busta.

Other winners on day 6 were Stan Wawrinka (3) who received  a walkover after Blaz Kavcic retired and Kei Nishikori (10) who defeated Leonardo Mayer in straight sets, and Milos Raonic (6).

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Tomas Berdych came through a battle with dangerous floater Martin Klizan in the second round of the U.S Open. The sixth seed won 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Berdych started out impressively before an eerily empty stadium as he won the first set 6-3. Then Klizan found his range, which is quite formidable on the lefthander’s forehand side,  in the second and won it 6-4. Berdych, though, was having a good hitting day, whacking the ball cleanly and with intent, and romped through the second 6-2 as he asserted himself on the match.

Klizan, though, is a tricky opponent. Ask Kei Nishikori was who upset by him in the first round of this year’s Roland Garros or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who lost to him at the US Open ’12. The world No.65 broke Berdych as the Czech served to stay in the fourth set to take the encounter into a fifth set.

But the effort to extend the match took its toll on Klizan early in the fifth as he lost focus and was broken. Berdych surged ahead 4-1, but Klizan did his best to keep it a contest, earning break points at 3-5. Berdych though was too strong, and emerged the winner to take the set 6-3 and move into the third round.

Berdych was clearly relieved to get through the match. He has had a tough draw with Hewitt as his first round opponent and then Klizan. But he survived both and this battle should set him up well for his third round clash with Teymaruz Gabashvili.

Grigor Dimitrov had an altogether different day at the office to Berdych. The seventh seed sailed through his second round match with Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Dimitrov got better and better as the match on – made only 3 errors in the third set-and will meet in-form David Goffin in a battle of two of the game’s youngest and biggest talents in round 3.

Another young talent to win through was Dominic Thiem who came back from two sets to love down against friend and practice partner eleventh seeded Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Hanging in the match paid off for Thiem as Gulbis started cramping in the fourth set and hobbled through much of the fifth. The third round is Thiem’s best effort at a slam in his young career and he will face veteran nineteenth seed Feliciano Lopez in the round of 32.

Fifteenth seed Fabio Fognini was sent flying out the tournament by Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. The Frenchman crushed the Italian’s resolve and romped through the third set to meet 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the next round.

Seeds Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and David Ferrer, whose opponent Bernard Tomic was forced to withdraw, all made it into the last 32.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Novak Djokovic showed his U.S Open Series slump was over when he dominated Paul-Henri Matthieu 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to move into the third round of the U.S Open. The world No.1 played like one in the first set as he made 87 percent of his first serves in, did not face one break point, broke his opponent 3 times and hit 11 winners to 6 errors.

The second set saw his level drop a fraction as he made 66 percent of first serves in, and made 8 errors to 11 winners. He also faced a break point. Compared to the first set, it might have looked a little sloppy, but it was still the kind of performance top seeds would be pleased to give in the early days of a slam.

In the third set, Djokovic returned to the supreme form of the first as he got 85 percent of first serves in and struck 11 winners to 2 errors. He did face 3 break points as Matthieu tried to salvage something from the wreckage that was his U.S Open 2014, but Djokovic saved them all on his way to serving up a bagel to the former top 20 player.

In the next round, Djokovic will face home boy Sam Querrey who knocked out Guillermo Garcia Lopez, seeded 28, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Querry put in a solid display with 16 aces and a 39-34 winner-error ratio. He will have to be even better if he is going to repeat his 2012 Paris-Bercy win over Djokovic in their third round match on the weekend.

The winner of the Djokovic-Querrey match could face another winner on Day 4, 13th seed John Isner, who sailed past Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2. Isner overwhelmed the German with his serve- 30 aces and an average first serve speed of 126 mph-and with his ground game, too as he blasted 54 winners to 18 unforced errors.

Other winners on day 4 through to round three were Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9), Kei Nishikori (10), and Phillip Kohlschreiber (22), the latter two going through after their opponents retired.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Young hope  Dominic Thiem made it through to the second round of the U.S Open after beating Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. He will meet  good friend 11th seed Ernests Gulbis  in what should be the most intriguing match of the second round.

Gulbis, the 11th seed, slipped quietly into the second round after defeating Kenny De Schepper 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Gulbis is still an unknown quantity slam wise despite his run to the French Open semis. He lost to De Schepper in his first match after that run at Queens, lost in the second round of Wimbledon, and has gone 3-4 overall since Paris.

It was hard to predict if the Latvian would win or lose his first round match in New York, but he woke up feeling in the right mood, hitting 35 winners to 22 errors and making 22 net approaches, winning 17 of them. His serve was working, too. He hit 65% of his first serves in and won 87% of points behind that delivery. Perhaps he was motivated by the prospect of meeting practice partner and friend Thiem in the next round. Speculation, but Gulbis is the kind of player whose erratic nature encourages it.

Another young player to make it through to the second round was David Goffin, the recent Bet-at-home Cup winner. Since Wimbledon, Goffin has gone 25-1 and hit win 26 as he beat fellow Belgian Niels Desein 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. He will face 32nd seed Joao Sousa in the next round in the first meeting between the pair, the reward being a potential match with seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov who beat Ryan Harrison in straight sets.

Seeds Kevin Anderson (18) and Fabio Fognini (15) were other players to advance on day 3 of the U.S Open. But seeds Santiago Giraldo (27) and Jermey Chardy(30) were both knocked out by Teymaruz Kabashvili and Blaz Kavcic respectively.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Tomas Berdych shook off some of his slump as he beat the draw’s most dangerous floater Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Berdych started off well, winning the first set 6-3 as the dry and fast conditions suited his game, but was then broken at the start of the second and fell 1-4 behind. The prospect of going down to Hewitt quickly snapped him out of his bad patch and the sixth seed won five straight games to take the set.

Berdych broke again at the start of the third, and though Hewitt managed to break past at 2-3 down, Berdych then ran off another three games, taking the match with a big serve down the tee and a forehand winner of the short ball.

The Czech will need those weapons when it comes to his second round match with Martin Klizan. Klizan is a known giant killer (d. Tsonga US Open ’12, d. Nishikori Roland Garros ’14), and if he finds himself up 4-1 to Berdych, he won’t let that lead slip. Berdych, however looked to be stronger than his previous U.S Open Series matches as he leveled his won-losses to 3-3 this Summer hard court swing and will feel confident of surviving another difficult road in his U.S Open draw.

While Berdych looked strong towards the end of his match, there were players all over Flushing Meadows having to retire. Marcos Baghdatis had to give up against Maric Cilic when trailing a set and 1-3. Ivan Dodig led Feliciano Lopez 2 sets to 1 before injury got to him and he had to pull out at the start of the fifth set. And Steve Johnson had to retire down 1-4 in the fourth to Japan’s Tatsuma Ito.

Grigor Dimitrov moved into the second round after beating American wild card Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Harrison looked up for taking the second set but his chance was blown at 4-5 in the tiebreak when he had Dimitrov on the run, came in to put away a short ball on the forehand, but sent it flying long.

Third seed Stan Wawrinka got through a testy match against Thomas Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1). Bellucci hit big and threatened to take the match into a fifth. He was helped a little by the crowd as one fan shouted between serves with Wawrinka serving late in the fourth. Wawrinka told the man to ‘shut up’ which drew applause from the crowd. Controlling the crowd, Wawrinka then got his game in order, played a great tiebreak and closed out the match.

Young hope Dominic Thiem made it through to the second round after beating Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. He will meet 11th seed Ernests Gulbis in what should be the most intriguing match of the second round. Gulbis, the 11th seed, slipped quietly into the second round after defeating Kenny De Schepper 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Gulbis is still an unknown quantity slam wise despite his run to the French Open semis. He lost to De Schepper in his first match after than run at Queens, and has gone 3-4 overall since Paris. He could have won or lost  his first round match in New York, but he woke up feeling in the mood, hitting 35 winners to 22 errors and making 22 net approaches, winning 17 of them. Perhaps he was motivated by the prospect of meeting practice partner and friend Thiem in the next round. Speculation, but Gulbis is the kind of player whose erratic nature encourages it.

Another young player to make it through to the second round was David Goffin, the recent Bet-at-home Cup winner. Since Wimbledon, Goffin has gone 25-1 and hit win 26 as he beat fellow Belgian Niels Desein 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. He will face 32nd seed Joao Sousa in the next round in the first meeting between the pair, the reward being a potential match with seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Seeds Kevin Anderson and Fabio Fognini were other players to advance on day 3 of the U.S Open.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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17 year old Croatian Borna Coric was the big story on day 2 of the U.S Open. The qualifier, ranked 204, upset last week’s Winston-Salem Open champion Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round the the event.

The quaifier got 64 percent of his first serves in, won 79 percent of points behind his first delivery, and won 53 percent of points behind his second serve. Coric also hit 20 aces to 3 double-faults, and made 20 winners to 3 unforced errors.

On his return game, he had a total of 19 break points, and converted 5 of them. Rosol meanwhile had five break point chances, but could not convert any of them.

For both men, it was a match of firsts- Rosol’s first time as a seed at a slam, Coric’s first time in the main draw of a slam. Neither will forget it, and for very different reasons.

Kei Nishikori made a positive return to the court after the injury lay off that forced him out of Cincinnati. The tenth seed beat wild card Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

John Isner was another seed (13) who flew through his match. The highest ranked American in the draw beat wildcard Marcos Giron 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(2) on Arthur Ashe.  Isner’s weapon, his serve, was on song as he fired down 26 aces, made 68 percent of his first serves in, won 86% of points behind that shot, and won 86% of points on his second serve. He was firing away on the ground too, with 60 winners to 17 errors. Isner clearly enjoyed the heat and the reportedly  faster than usual courts. Last night Novak Djokovic spoke of how fast the courts on Arthur Ashe were for 10pm at night, and it will be interesting to see what consequences that has should Djokovic and Isner both make their scheduled fourth round encounter.

David Ferrer (4) struggled past Damir Dzumhur, playing in his first U.S Open, 6-1, 6-2, 2-6. 6-2.

Overall, it was a good day for the seeded players as Gilles Simon (26), Richard Gasquet (12), Fabio Fognini (15), Ivo Karlovic (25), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (28), all made it through to the second round.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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Nick Kyrgios provided the headlines for the first day of the U.S Open when he ousted 21st seed and two-time Semi-finalist Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(1) . The 19 year old Wimbledon quarter-finalist won the first two sets, then dropped the third and fell a break down in the fourth. But 4-5 down, Kyrgios really went for his shots and hit winner after winner to take the fourth set on a tiebreak.

Kyrgios struck down 26 aces,  and hit 68 winners to 57 errors in all. Watching him belt the ball until he gets the short ball or the open court is an exciting experience, as is witnessing his approaches to the net (16/36 approaches won) and the crowd certainly reacted to the show, giving the Australian a big cheer for his attacking efforts. Kyrgios clearly likes the big stages and the crowd’s applause, and will be dangerous for Tommy Robredo(16) in the third round and Stan Wawrinka (3) in the last sixteen.

Stan Wawrinka was rattled in his opening match against the young Czech Jiri Vesely. Vesely had Wawrinka on the ropes in the second set when he served to level at a set all, but the 21 year made too many errors (33 in the match) when he needed to be making the winners (21) that got him into such a good position. Wawrinka managed to win the match 6-2, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) between muttering to himself in disgust at a performance which saw him manage only 47% of first serves in and hit 38 errors to 41 winners.

Andy Murray, seeded 8, started out well enough in his first round match against Robin Hasse, winning the first two sets, but cramps got the better of him in the third. Robin Hasse took it 6-1 and then the world No.70 served for the fourth set at 5-3.

With Murray pulling at his leg every few points and grimacing it looked like his year might be about to get even worse, but the Dutch man could not put the Scot away. How often Hasse will have someone of the caliber of Murray clinging to the ropes ready to be knocked out no one knows, but we can guess it won’t be often. Hasse though seemed as perturbed as Murray by the cramps at times, netting a volley at break point in the final game, and it is testimony to the Scot’s talent that he wriggled out of the mess 6-3, 7-6 (6), 1-6, 7-5. 

Milos Raonic looked impressive as he put away 21 year old qualifier Taro Daniel. Milos cruised through the first two sets and served for the match in the third before Daniel broke back. Raonic, who served at 135 mph late in the third, struck his 20th ace to take the match into a tiebreaker, did not his slip up have any long lasting effects as he grabbed an early break and  took the breaker and the match 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1).

Raonic’s stats were impressive. He had 67% of first serves in, hit 20 aces and compiled a 58-17 winners-errors ratio. His return game was decent, too, winning 41% of his receiving points.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 9, dropped a set as he beat former top tenner Juan Monaco 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-1. Tsonga struggled on serve, facing 13 break points in all, but he did save 11 of those points, and his 20 aces was a positive to take into the next round, too. Hitting 48 winners to 49 errors, it was a hit and miss affair, but it is probably good to get a bad match out the way early as a very vulnerable looking Andy Murray looms further down the draw.

In the match of the first round, Benoit Paire, the frustrating talent that he is, knocked out countryman and 24th seed Julien Benneteau 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. In a heated affair on a hot day in New York City (30 degrees), Paire won 36 of 59 points at the net and hit 85 winners to 77 winners on one of those days when his attractive game is more on than off, which have been few and far between the last year. It was good to see it in action again, and a potential third round match up with Tsonga could be something to savor.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

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