NEW YORK: Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Simona Halep strolled into the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday but shared the Flushing Meadows spotlight with tenacious underdogs Donald Young and Johanna Konta.

Second seed Federer took another step towards a sixth US Open title with an efficient 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber while third seed Murray followed him into the fourth round with a clinical 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.

It was another leisurely afternoon on Arthur Ashe Stadium court for Federer, who has yet to drop a set, though he lost his serve for the first time in the tournament as Kohlschreiber broke him twice.

“I think I won the big points today,” said 34-year-old Federer. “I served well when I had to at the end.”

Federer, who had sprinted through his first two matches with the loss of only nine games, next meets big-serving American 13th seed John Isner, who advanced when Czech Jiri Vesely retired with a neck injury when trailing 6-3, 6-4.

Vesely is the 16th player — 14 men, two women — to stop during a match at this year’s US Open because of injury or illness, a record for a major tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.

Murray had needed to rally from two sets down to see off France’s Adrian Mannarino in the second round.

But despite falling a break down in the first set on Saturday, he eventually breezed to victory over the 30th-ranked Bellucci and next faces South Africa’s 15th seed Kevin Anderson who made the last 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7/3) win over Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

Fifth seed Stan Wawrinka, the French Open champion, made the last 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Belgian world number 107 Rubens Bemmelmans and goes on to face the unseeded Young.

Young, once hailed as the next great American tennis player, is finally showing that potential at 26 to an excited hometown audience fighting back from two sets down to claim a 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-4 victory over 22nd seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

Young had never won a match after losing the first two sets until Tuesday, when he did it against 11th-seeded Gilles Simon in the first round.

“It was 90 percent you guys,” Young told the partisan spectators, “10 percent me.”

DONALD Young of the US reacts after winning against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in their third-round match.—AFP

Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2012, reached the last 16 for a fourth successive year by beating Spain’s Guillermo Garcma-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.

Halep worked the night shift for the first time at this Slam and found it to her liking as she steamrolled past American qualifier Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-3 in 67 minutes.

Next up for the Romanian second seed is Germany’s 24th seed Sabine Lisicki, who came back from 1-5 down in the final set to defeat Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 before collapsing to the floor in floods of tears.

Twice the title winner at the Australian Open, and twice beaten by Serena Williams in the US Open final, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus needed six match points and nearly three hours to close out 11th-seeded German Angelique Kerber 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Afterwards, Azarenka, the 20th seed, said she told herself, “I’m going to stay here all day,” if that’s what it was going to take to win.

Konta continued to enjoy her time in the US Open spotlight as the British qualifier beat 18th seed Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

It was the second upset in as many matches for the 24-year-old who toiled for three hours and 23 minutes in searing heat on Thursday to beat eighth seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.

VICTORIA Azarenka of Belarus celebrates after winning the first set during the third-round match against Germany’s Angelique Kerber.—Reuters

“To be honest, I feel just as I did two weeks ago, I haven’t exactly grown wings or anything,” said Konta, ranked number 97. “I must say I’m happy with how I have been playing so far this week but my feet are firmly on the ground. I haven’t cured cancer or anything.”

Konta will next meet fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, who had no problem with the heat or her opponent, the twice Wimbledon champion crushing Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1.

Samantha Stosur, the 2011 champion and the last woman to beat Serena at the tournament, battled past Italy’s Sara Errani 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

Next for Stosur is another Italian, 26th seed Flavia Pennetta, a 2013 semi-finalist, who put out world number 149 Petra Cetkovska 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2015

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