Vinci falls apart after foot fault; Kerber wins

Australian Open victor Kerber is eyeing Serena Williams’ world number one ranking and made relatively light work of Italy’s Vinci.

She jumped just high enough.

A year ago, Vinci beat Williams in the semifinals, then lost to good friend Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first Grand Slam final for each. Yet, in each of her matches, she remained her determined self, going after every point as if the outcome depended on it. While she hasn’t won since, she has been going deep. Kerber, too, won silver in singles at the Olympics in Rio.

This was a tough way for Sevastova’s U.S. Open to end.

Williams will now need to reach the final to have a chance of retaining top spot.

Angelique Kerber herself said that she had a lot of nerves as Vinci was able to trick her in the start of the match, but she managed to relax. “So I feel real sorry for her”, Wozniacki said in an on-court interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 10th-seeded Frenchman swept Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to improve to 18-2 in matches he’s played since a first-round loss at Wimbledon. I mean, let’s see. I played five matches and I spent six days here.

“I’m so happy to win it in two sets”.

On Tuesday, she was two points away from taking the first set when she served for it at 5-4, but was broken.

“Hopefully I have two more chances”, she said.

Kvitova offered more resistance in the second before surrendering with a double fault on match point to gift Kerber a place in the quarter-finals.

The pair had met eight times before with the series at 4-4.

Vinci lost to Flavia Pennetta in an all-Italian final less than 24 hours after her stunning victory over Williams. “That will be for sure the challenge with her”, Kerber said.

The key for the German who has had her breakout season in 2016 will be to play to her strengths and continue to hit tight angles and run around the court.

Sevastova looked nothing like the player who had knocked off French Open champ Garbine Muguruza earlier in the tournament.

Gael Monfils, of France, serves to Marcos Baghdatis, of Cyprus, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY. Facing a much younger, much-less-accomplished opponent, Nadal twice erased a set deficit.

Wozniacki moves into Thursday’s semifinal round opposite Angelique Kerber, who could overtake Serena Williams for No. 1 in the world if she wins this tournament.

This was Pouille’s third career victory in a five-setter – and all have come in his past three matches. Kerber will find that Wozniacki, whose ranking has plunged to No. 74 in part because of an ankle injury that forced her to miss three months this year (including the French Open), will not be an easy out. I think a lot of things [changed] since then. The 142nd-ranked del Potro was leading eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-3, 3-2 when the Austrian retired with a right knee injury. However, Kerber bounced back and won it 7-5.

When it ended, Pouille dropped on his back, his tongue sticking out.

But Kerber kept reining her in and with the seventh break in 12 games, the German took the opener after 54 minutes when Vinci was called for a foot fault. Baghdatis defended himself to the chair umpire by asking whether it was against the rules to check the time; later, speaking to a handful of reporters, he said he was trying to message his wife. Monfils didn’t try to overplay and served well, not conceding a break point.