Stan Wawrinka was a point away from crashing out of the US Open, but came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 6-2 against Daniel Evans in the third round on Saturday. Evans held match point at 6/5 in the fourth-set tie-break, but the Swiss hung on and completed the comeback in just over four hours.

“I was frustrated, for sure, to be down two sets to one because I wasn’t playing my best tennis. But I still had a chance. So I was trying to find the right way, how to keep fighting; how to stay in the match,” Wawrinka said. “He was often coming to the net to try to finish the point. I had to play better, to be a little bit more aggressive.”

Wawrinka looked out of sorts after rolling an ankle early in the match. Intervention from the tournament physio allowed the No. 3 seed to continue, but it was the more aggressive Evans who controlled the run of play, approaching the net 63 times in total (41/63) to keep Wawrinka off-balance until the momentum shifted late in the match.

“I had the feeling in the fourth set that I was starting to play a little bit better. He was starting to be down a little bit, but still playing really well on those important points, still being there, still being tough. It wasn’t easy to stay calm with myself. But in general, I think that was the key to the match,” Wawrinka said.

The two-time Grand Slam champion’s experience and superior conditioning helped him win the day. Wawrinka gutted out the fourth-set tie-break, then broke his opponent three times in the deciding set to move into the second week in Flushing Meadows for the fifth consecutive year.

Next up for the 2015 semi-finalist will be Illya Marchenko, who won when No. 14 Nick Kyrgios retired down 4-6, 6-4 ,6-1. He becomes only the third Ukrainian, after Andrei Medvedev and Alexandr Dolgopolov, to reach the second week at a Grand Slam event. Kyrgios injured his hip in the second set and was limping noticeably before conceding the match after the third set. Wawrinka beat Marchenko 6-3, 6-2 at Indian Wells earlier this year in their lone previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Nicolas Mahut had his opportunity to cause one of the big shocks of the 2016 US Open. The Frenchman had a break point for a set and a break lead in his third round encounter against Kei Nishikori, but the 2014 finalist dominated the match from then on, reeling off 18 of the last 23 games for the 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Nishikori cruised to the finish line after two hours and 16 minutes, firing 37 winners and just 28 unforced errors. He executed his return game to near perfection in the final three sets, converting seven of 11 break points, while holding Mahut to 54 per cent first serve points won.

The Japanese, who has been pushed to four sets in each of his three matches this week, is into the second week in Flushing Meadows for the third time in eight appearances. He will face either 21st seed Ivo Karlovic or #NextGen star and American hopeful Jared Donaldson next, with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.

Andy Murray was put to the test by Paolo Lorenzi in the third round of the US Open on Saturday, needing four sets to book his spot in the fourth round. He will next face No. 22 seed Grigor Dimitrov for the tenth time (Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 6-3).

“He’s a very good player,” Murray said of his next opponent. “He does a lot of things well on the court. He has good feel, moves well… It will be another tough one in a couple of days’ time. I expect it to be very hard. I’ll be ready for that. I’ll need to play better than today if I want to win that.” 

The Dunblane native reached the Round of 16 at a major for the 23^rd consecutive tournament (DNP 2013 Roland Garros) after topping the 34-year-old Italian 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Murray was one of three Brits in the third round of the US Open (also Daniel Evans, Kyle Edmund), the first time this has happened since 1968. 

In the first set, Lorenzi broke Murray for a 5-4 lead, marking just the second time the 2012 champion had been broken in the tournament. But an unforced error from the World No. 40 in the following game gave the second seed the break back. The Scot gained momentum and a mini-break in the eventual tie-break and went on to grab the first set after exactly one hour. 

The pair traded breaks early in the second set, and the Italian, appearing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, went on to break again for a 4-2 lead. But a 42-shot rally ending in Murray’s favour earned the Scot two break points to get back on serve. One chance was all it took as Lorenzi sent a backhand into the net. Up 6-5, Lorenzi benefited from a forehand error from Murray, grabbing the second set 7-5 to level the match. In the third and fourth sets, it was one-way traffic for Murray, who sealed victory with the help of 60 winners after three hours and 16 minutes.

“I expected a tough match. I expected long rallies. I’m just disappointed with the amount of errors I made. I was quite impatient at times. That cost me in the first and second sets. I worked it out, won, got through, and I didn’t play well. So I’m happy with that.”

Juan Martin del Potro overcame a slow start and solved the challenge posed by David Ferrer 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday at the US Open. The 2009 US Open champion is into the second week at a Grand Slam event for the first time since Wimbledon 2013 by prevailing in two hours and 24 minutes. Del Potro has yet to drop a set in Flushing Meadows this year.

“I got stronger mentally after the first set. Against David you never know when the match is going to finish. He never gives up,” del Potro said. “It’s a pleasure to play against him because he puts me under pressure all the time. I needed to play my best tennis today.”

The wily Ferrer came into the match with a specific gameplan and targeted del Potro’s weaker backhand wing during baseline exchanges. Ferrer’s heavy hitting forced the towering Argentine outside of the sidelines and forced him to chip the ball defensively, producing easy put-away volleys for the Spaniard.

Ferrer’s early offensive took him to 5-2 in the opening set, but it was all del Potro thereafter. The former World No. 4 stepping on returns to break back, then won the first-set tie-break without dropping a point on his serve to move ahead for good. The 6’6” del Potro’s serving was a major asset, as he fired five aces in the last two sets (six total) and did not face break point the rest of the way.

“I think I did really well in the second and the third sets. I’m so glad to be in the second week after three years. It means a lot of good things to me,” del Potro said. “Of course, I’m looking forward to keep winning. But my next opponent will be really difficult.”

With the win, del Potro improved to 4-6 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Ferrer. Next up will be No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem. Del Potro won his lone tour-level meeting with the Austrian on the clay of Madrid earlier this year.

“It will depend on my body, on my game. If I play like I did today, I will have a chance to play a great match against him. But he’s playing really well. He’s very dangerous. His backhand is so good. His movements are really fast. It will be an interesting match for me.”

Grigor Dimitrov continued his resurgence Saturday as he booked his place in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2015 Australian Open. The Bulgarian defeated Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16 at the US Open.

“I think winning matches always gives you confidence,” said Dimitrov. “I’ve won quite a few close matches, which just helps me a lot to be solid when I have to. Today [was] that type of a match that I played really smart on the big points, I played good when I had to. Overall it was a decent match, I would say.”

Since teaming up with new coach, Dani Vallverdu, at the Rogers Cup, Dimitrov has gone 10-3, reaching the quarter-finals in Toronto (l. to Nishikori) and the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (l. to Cilic) to take his Emirates ATP Ranking from No. 40 to No. 24.

“First of all he’s a great guy,” Dimitrov said of his new coach. “We share a lot of the same things. On the court we kind of think similarly. We kind of want to just work right now. That’s what it’s about.

“I know how to play tennis. Now it’s more the strategic way, how you’re going to prepare for big matches, big tournaments.”

The 25-year-old Dimitrov is bidding to reach his first major quarter-final since a run to his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic) two years ago, since which he has endured some turbulent times on the court.  

The 22^nd-seeded Dimitrov tore through the first two sets against Sousa, breaking serve three times. His Portuguese opponent struck back in the third set to bring himself back into contention and kept his momentum up with an early break in the fourth. But his comeback was halted as Dimitrov regrouped to reel off the final six games of the match and claim victory in two hours and 38 minutes.

 Dimitrov goes on to face second seed and 2012 champion Andy Murray. Read More

“Obviously it’s going to be a great match. I’m excited to be in the second week. That’s just a good start for me. I always like my chances when I get to stages like that in a tournament, especially having to play tough matches early on and [I’m] feeling good and confident… [I’m] just going to take everything onboard with me right now and bring it out on the court.”

Fifth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau topped Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday at the US Open. The Dutch/Romanian duo hit 13 winners and did not face a break point in the 56-minute victory. Next in the third round, they will face Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who ousted tenth seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-3, saving four of the six break points they faced in the two-hour, 17-minute match.

­­­­­­­Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the reigning Australian Open champions, dropped just two games to advance to the third round. The fourth seeds beat Marcin Matkowski and Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes. Murray/Soares will next take on Brian Baker and Marcus Daniell for a spot in the quarter-finals. The British/Brazilian pair are currently third in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. They will qualify for the prestigious season finale should they reach the final in Flushing Meadows.

Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya, the No. 12 seeds, defeated Stephane Robert and Dudi Sela 7-6(5), 6-4 to set a third-round meeting with Daniel Evans and Nick Kyrgios.