Federer storms into last 16, Pliskova battles past Jabeur

Five-time champion Roger Federer raced into the last 16 of the US Open on Friday with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 rout of 58th-ranked Briton Dan Evans in just 80 minutes.

Third seed Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam winner, is looking for a first Flushing Meadows title since 2008. He meets Belgian 15th seed David Goffin or Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, chasing her first Grand Slam title, advanced to the fourth round by outlasting Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

Pliskova, the 2016 US Open runner-up who could finish the fortnight as world number one, booked a spot in the last 16 against either British 16th seed Johanna Konta or China’s 33rd-seeded Zhang Shuai.

After taking the first set in 26 minutes, Pliskova broke to open the second. Jabeur, ranked 62nd, had her right knee retaped and battled back to break Pliskova three times in the second set, the last on a forehand winner to force a third set.

Pliskova broke to start the third set and seized another in the fifth game on an errant Jabeur forehand before advancing on a backhand winner after two hours and eight minutes.

Pliskova, 27, is battling top-ranked defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan and Australia’s second-ranked Ashleigh Barty, the French Open winner, for the world number one spot.

Earlier, fifteen-year-old American sensation Coco Gauff set up an eye-catching US Open showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka while Rafael Nadal’s path to the title eased further as he received a walkover into the third round.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, meanwhile, crashed out early in New York for a third year running, blowing a match point in a tense three-set loss to 116th-ranked Taylor Townsend.

Gauff, who made a remarkable run to the fourth round at Wimbledon before falling to Halep, defeated Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to become the youngest player in the last 32 at a US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.

“It has been amazing. I’m just so happy to get through,” Gauff said as chants of her name rang out around Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“I had to dig really deep today. I’m just proud of the way I fought and I’m glad it was all worth it in the end.”

Three-time US Open champion Nadal advanced without striking a ball when injury-plagued Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled out of their scheduled evening tie on Arthur Ashe with a right shoulder problem.

The Spanish 18-time Grand Slam winner will meet South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon for a spot in the last 16.

His path to a fourth title, already helped with “Big Three” rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the opposite side of the draw, cleared further having already seen four top-10 rivals dumped out in the first round.

Alexander Zverev, the sixth seed, is the highest-ranked player remaining on his side of the draw, as the German survived a second successive five-set marathon by outlasting American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to equal his best US Open run.

Townsend upended women’s fourth seed Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), the Romanian consigned to another premature exit at Flushing Meadows, having been knocked out in the opening round in 2017 and 2018.

Townsend recovered from wasting two match points to then save one and force a tie-break she dominated to claim her first win over a top-10 player.

“This means a lot. It has been a long journey,” said a tearful Townsend, who matched her run to the French Open third round on her Grand Slam debut in 2014.

Men’s fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, coming off a maiden Masters title in Cincinnati, was struck down by cramp during a 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien.

“I’m not sure what happened today and why I started cramping suddenly,” Medvedev said. “I obviously thought at one point ‘How did I win?’ I don’t know how I did.”

Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 US Open champion, beat Jeremy Chardy in four sets and is on a fourth-round collision course with Djokovic, while Australian 28th seed Nick Kyrgios rolled past 104th-ranked French wildcard Antoine Hoang 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Andrea Petkovic knocked out Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4, while 15th seed Bianca Andreescu and two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki also progressed. Meanwhile, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro has been fined $40,000 by the US Open for lack of effort in her first-round match against Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos, tournament referee Soeren Friemel said.

Agence France-Presse