New York, Sept. 4: Kaia Kanepi of Estonia reached the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) win over fourth seed Jelena Jankovic.
It was a crushing end to the tournament for Jankovic as she struggled past her first two rounds and was immediately out of sorts against Kanepi due to the blustery winds that swirled around Flushing Meadows in the wake of Hurricane Earl, which passed by on Friday.
Rafael Nadal’s bid for a career Grand Slam and Andy Murray’s quest for his first Grand Slam title moved a step closer to a US Open semifinal collision course with impressive triumphs.
Nadal defeated 39th-ranked Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 to reach a third-round match against France’s Gilles Simon. Reigning women’s champion Kim Clijsters breezed into the last 16 along with third seed Venus Williams of the US.
Reigning champion Clijsters cruised past Czech Wimbledon semifinalist Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi progressed to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a straight-set win over German-Finn pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen. The 16th seed Indo-Pak pair won 6-4, 6-4.
In the mixed doubles event, Leander Paes and Cara Black moved to the second round after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak.
Selected results
Women’s Singles 3rd Round
Samantha Stosur (AUS x5) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 6-2, 6-3; Elena Dementieva (RUS x12) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x24) 7-5, 6-2; Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 6-0; Ana Ivanovic (SRB) bt Vir ginie Razzano (FRA) 7-5, 6-0; Venus Williams (USA x3) bt Mandy Minella (LUX) 6-2, 6-1; Shahar Peer (ISR x16) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA x19) 6-4, 6-4
Men singles 2nd round
Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Dustin Brown (JAM) 7-5, 6-3, 6-0; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x8) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x25) by Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; David Nalbandian (ARG x31) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5