Wawrinka downs Murray

As he is prone to do, the best male player to have never won a tennis Grand Slam continues his once a fortnight lapse and fell to a more focused upset-minded competitor. Fourth seed Andy Murray had no answers for Stan Wawrinka’s penetrating one-handed backhand that helped the Swiss register 58 outright winners in the 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 win.

When Wawrinka won the second set tiebreaker, he was clearly in command of the match. The win propelled Wawrinka into the fourth round for the third time in four years at the Open.

Wawrinka turned up the pressure on his serving in the third and fourth sets. After claiming the second set, he was barely pressured by the fourth seed who tends to go away quietly in big matches.

Youzhny Guns Down Isner

Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny quieted the pro-Eisner gallery by breaking the American’s serve in the first games of the first and second sets. The Russian made the break stand up in the first set and in the second claimed another break to take a 4-1 lead. This time, Isner answered with two breaks of his own. Isner broke twice and took command of the tiebreaker which he won on his 4th set point attempt.

By this time, the crowd knew something special was in the works and the grounds at Flushing Meadows came alive. After sealing the third set in another tiebreaker Youzhny began to return Isner’s with relative ease and pressured the 19th seed in every game. Youzhny won the fourth set 6-4 and joined the elite round of sixteen.

Also advancing is the top seed, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who dismissed new father Gilles Simon after a quiet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 third set match. Nadal is serving particularly well and is seeking to become just the fourth player to win three Grand Slams consecutively.

The Spaniard has advanced without losing a set. However, the U.S. Open is the one link missing from Nadal’s career Grand Slam. He has never reached the finals in New York.

One of the toughest matches of the day featured the eighth seed Fernando Verdasco and 2003 semifinalist David Nalbandian, who has been especially hot of late. The two hard hitters went right at each other from the start, but Verdasco’s hard court serve was too much for Nalbandian. Verdasco’s 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win kept him on track for a quarterfinal battle with Rafa.

Meanwhile Verdasco will face yet another Spaniard, Davis Ferrer who outplayed Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (2), 6-2,6-2. Feliciano Lopez advanced when Sergiy Stakhovsky retired down a set and 4-0.

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