The 'tweener lob Rafael Nadal somehow conjured up to get to match point was so spectacular, he was asked whether he'd ever before hit a shot quite like that.
"Well, actually, yes," Nadal said, nodding and laughing. "Not many times, but I remember one."
This one certainly was memorable, providing quite a flourish at the end of a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over 47th-ranked Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia on Friday night that put Nadal back in the U.S. Open's fourth round for the first time since winning the 2013 title.
The owner of 14 Grand Slam trophies, including two at Flushing Meadows, Nadal hadn't been to the fourth round at any major tournament since the 2015 French Open.
This season, he lost in the first round of the Australian Open. Then he pulled out of the French Open before his third-round match because of a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, an injury that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon altogether and miss about 2½ months on tour in all.
"You need to be patient. You need to take your time, recover, work hard," Nadal said. "That's what I did. That's all."
Nadal said the wrist, which helps generate all of that heavy topspin on his uppercut of a lefty forehand, still feels pain - but noted that it's "something that is not limiting my game now. That's the most important thing."
He said his forehand is improving, and he's particularly pleased to be more comfortable hitting that stroke down the line, which opens up space to allow him to hit it cross-court. Against Kuznetsov, Nadal produced 15 of his 22 winners with forehands.
But the shot everyone will talk about was not a forehand. Closing in on victory, Nadal raced toward the baseline to retrieve a lob hit by Kuznetsov. With his back to the net, Nadal lifted himself off the ground and flicked a lob of his own through his legs. His racket then slipped out of his hand, but he leaned over to grab it and eventually took that point.
Afterward, Nadal screamed, punched the air and spread his arms wide, pumping his fists. "You cannot practice that kind of shot," he said.
Not everything went so perfectly for Nadal on this evening in Arthur Ashe Stadium. His level dipped in the second set, when he double-faulted five times and was broken twice.
Still, he overcame that blip and came up with a strong close.
Not only has he not lost a set through three rounds, but Nadal has dropped only 20 games so far.
It's the fewest games he's lost en route to the fourth round at the US Open.
Next comes a matchup Sunday against 24th-seeded lucas Pouille of France.
Sock beats former champ Cilic
Before Jack Sock took on 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the third round, the 23-year-old American acknowledged that, as of a couple of years ago, simply making it that far would have made him, to use two of his words, "satisfied" and "excited."
Now Sock wants more. He thinks his game and his mindset are ready for deep Grand Slam runs. And the way he overwhelmed the No. 7-seeded Cilic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a little more than 1 1/2 hours on Friday to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time, who would doubt SockIJ
Against Cilic, who followed up his title with a semifinal appearance a year ago, Sock won all 14 of his service games, never facing so much as one break point.
But on this windy afternoon, Sock showed off other improving parts of his repertoire. Sure, he delivered 10 forehand winners, but he also produced four on the backhand side (Cilic only had two). And as good as his serving was, with a top speed of 138 mph and 86 percent of first-serve points won, Sock's returns were in fine form, too: He broke Cilic four times.
Other men into the round of 16 included No 10 Gael Monfils, No 24 lucas Pouille, and 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who ended the career-best showing of American qualifier Ryan Harrison by beating him 6-3, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-1.
That was followed by the day's last match, No. 2 Angelique Kerber's 6-1, 6-1 victory over 17-year-old American CiCi Bellis. Friday's most stirring turnaround came in Ashe in the afternoon, when No. 8 Madison Keys of the US was down 5-1 in the third set before edging Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3).
Asked whether she considered this the top comeback of her young career, the 21-year-old Keys replied: "For sure. Hands down." She'll now face two-time US Open runner-up and former No 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Other women who won included No 7 Roberta Vinci, who stopped Serena Williams' Grand Slam bid a year ago in New York, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, No. 13 Johanna Konta and Anastasija Sevastova, the player who beat French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round. No 12 Dominika Cibulkova lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to lesia Tsurenko.
On Saturday, Fifth-seeded Simona Halep smashed her racket in frustration en route to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, third-round victory over 34th-ranked Timea Babos at the US Open. Halep, a finalist at Flushing Meadows a year ago, rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the deciding set and appeared to struggle with the power of the big-serving Hungarian, who blasted five aces and 25 total winners.