Defending champion Marin Cilic overcame a tweaked right ankle thanks in large part to 23 aces and returned to the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over 27th-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France.
Cilic smacked serves at up to 132 mph, relying on that big shot to carry him in the pivotal third-set tiebreaker. Cilic hit four serves in that tiebreaker and each one was an ace. The ninth-seeded Croatian has won his past 11 matches at Flushing Meadows, where he reached his first Grand Slam final a year ago.
He rolled his ankle early in the second set but seemed to be moving fine by late in the third, which he ended with a down-the-line backhand passing winner on the run.
Azarenka advances
Two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka, the 20th seed, triumphed over 11th-seeded German Angelique Kerber in an Arthur Ashe Stadium thriller lasting almost three hours.
Azarenka, whose season has been blighted by a left thigh injury, won 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 on a sixth match point having trailed 2-5 in the first set.
The 26-year-old took her record over Kerber to 5-0 on the back of 51 winners to her opponent’s 46 in a merciless contest of big-hitting.
Both players saved a combined 26 break points before the Belarusian prevailed to set-up a last-16 clash with America’s Varvara lepchenko.
“Angelique is a great fighter but I enjoy the hustle and getting winners and chasing down every ball,” said two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka. “I would stay here all day if I needed to win.”
Meanwhile, Roger Federer defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber for the 10th time to reach the US Open last 16.
Five-time champion and world number two Federer claimed a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over his 29th-ranked German opponent.
The 34-year-old Swiss star, hoping to become the oldest champion since Ken Rosewall in 1970, will next face US 13th seed John Isner, who progressed after Czech opponent Jiri Vesely retired with a neck injury after dropping the first two sets.
Federer has now reached the fourth round in New York for the 15th year as he looks to return to the final for the first time since 2009.
The Swiss star’s victory was only marred by him dropping serve for the first time since Wimbledon.
“I won the big points today, I served well when I had to, even though it was up and down for both of us,” said Federer, who will take a 4-1 career lead over Isner into their fourth-round clash.
“He stood far back to return so I had to do a reset in my mind.”
Two days after rallying from two sets down to win in five, the third-seeded Andy Murray swept Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in 2 hours, 11 minutes on Saturday night in the third round of the U.S. Open.
Murray was broken in his second service game by the 30th-seeded Brazilian but had little trouble after that.
The Britain next faces 15th-seeded Kevin Anderson.
Second-seeded Simona Halep made quick work of her third-round match at the US Open.
Facing a qualifier who had never advanced this far at a major, Halep beat 154th-ranked American Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-3 in 67 minutes Saturday night.
Halep matched her deepest run at the U.S. Open, the only Grand Slam tournament at which she hasn’t reached at least the quarterfinals.
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2012, reached the last 16 for a fourth successive year by beating Spain’s Guillermo García-lopez 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-3.
He next plays 12th seed Richard Gasquet, one of four Frenchmen in the last 16, who defeated Australia’s Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.
Samantha Stosur, the 2011 champion and the last woman to beat Serena Williams at the tournament, battled past Italy’s Sara Errani 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.
She next faces another Italian, 26th seed Flavia Pennetta, a 2013 semi-finalist, who put out world number 149 Petra Cetkovska 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The American, Donald Young, again came from behind on Saturday, again backed by a raucous crowd as he rallied from two sets down to stun 22nd-seeded Viktor Troicki 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4.