Andreescu stuns Wozniacki as Djokovic rolls on

American qualifier Taylor Townsend vowed to ride her surprise US Open run “all the way” after reaching the last 16 Saturday with victory over  Sorana Cirstea, 7-5, 6-2.

Townsend, ranked 116th, followed up her shock win over reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep by beating another Romanian Cirstea.

“I didn’t know that many people had my phone number,” Townsend said when asked how she coped in the wake of her Halep upset.

The 23-year-old Townsend is enjoying her deepest run, surpassing her third-round showing on debut at the 2014 French Open, and will play 15th seed Bianca Andreescu for a quarter-final spot.

“I made third round before but it was in another country. I got a lot of messages. It was a lot of love. My phone started dialing 911 by itself, I dont know what that was about. I just tried to keep my head on straight.”

“I’m going to take it as far as I can,” she added. We’re going to ride this thing all the way.”

Canadian teenager Andreescu continued to make serene progress on her first Flushing Meadows main draw appearance as she brushed past two-time US Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4.

“I think I played great tennis. I’m really pleased with my performance,” said Andreescu, also into the second week of a major for the first time.

The 19-year-old, a winner at Toronto and Indian Wells this season, improved to 30-4 for the year despite missing much of the clay and grass portion with a shoulder injury.

“I think everything is just clicking with me,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot with injuries and have just taken everything I’ve learned from the past couple of years and brought it into this year.”

Belgian 25th seed Elise Mertens swept into the fourth round for a second year running with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.

Meanwhile, a refreshed Rafael Nadal is second up during the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the Spaniard taking on South Korea’s 170th-ranked Chung Hyeon.

Second seed Nadal received a walkover in the second round when scheduled opponent Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew due to injury.

The three-time champion holds a 34-1 record here against players outside the top 50, although Chung made the 2018 Australian Open semi-finals before a lengthy injury lay-off sent his ranking spiralling.

Earlier, top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic rolled into the US Open fourth round on Friday while Serena Williams and Roger Federer cruised into the last 16 and Kei Nishikori was eliminated.

Djokovic, champion in four of the past five Slams and 16 overall, was less bothered by left shoulder pain that nagged him in the second round in defeating 111th-ranked American Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

“That I managed to play almost pain-free, that’s a big improvement from last match obviously,” Djokovic said. “I didn’t know how my body would react. That was nice.”

Djokovic, who needed treatment throughout his second-round triumph, skipped practice Thursday in favor of shoulder treatment.

“I’m not going to go into the medical details,” he said. “But it definitely was bothering me in the past couple weeks.”

The 32-year-old Serbian, a three-time US Open winner, booked a Sunday showdown with three-time Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss 23rd seed who eliminated Italian lucky loser Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/4).

“There’s something with him that when I get into my best game, I know that it’s going to have some big rallies and I’m going to play good tennis,” Wawrinka said.

Djokovic, no worse than a US Open semi-finalist since a third-round exit in 2006, leads Wawrinka 19-5 in their all-time rivalry, but they haven’t met since Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final.

“We’ve had some great battles over the years, but especially here,” Djokovic said. “Let the better player win.”

Federer routed Britain’s 58th-ranked Dan Evans 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in only 80 minutes, blasting 48 winners to just seven for Evans. After dropping the first set in his first two matches, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was solid from start to finish.

Associated Press