Djokovic cruises; Rogers stuns Barty Zverev, Pliskova, Andreescu, Sakkari storm into US Open 4th round

NEW YORK: Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia continued his pursuit of the Grand Slam as he rallied to beat Kei Nishikori of Japan to reach the fourth round at the US Open here.

Djokovic recovered from losing the first set as he struck 45 winners to move past the 31-year-old 6-7(4) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in three hours and 32 minutes, improving to 18-2 in their ATP head-to-head series.

"I don't think I started off very well," Djokovic said. "I was quite passive. I was too far back in the court. He was dictating the play. I was still trying to find the rhythm, find the tempo. Obviously he played much quicker and more aggressive than my opponents in the opening rounds did, so it took me a little bit of time to adjust to his game.

"I think beginning of the second set I already felt like I'm getting the groove back, I'm getting that rhythm back. I was very pleased with the focus. Maybe at some points I wasn't at my best, but overall I was determined, I was concentrated and that's what matters in the end," Djokovic told atptour.com.

Djokovic, who can also pass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most Slam titles with his 21st major trophy in New York, is now just four victories away from becoming the second man in the Open Era alongside Rod Laver in 1969 to capture the Grand Slam, having triumphed at the first three majors of the season.

The world No. 1 has claimed 17 consecutive victories against Nishikori, last falling to the 31-year-old in the semifinals at the US Open in 2014. The 85-time tour-level titlist recently defeated Nishikori at the Tokyo Olympics, dropping just two games en route to his victory.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev advanced to the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday, when Jack Sock retired with a thigh injury trailing 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-1.

South African Lloyd Harris reached the fourth round for the first time with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Canadian world number 10 Denis Shapovalov.

American Shelby Rogers kept her hopes alive as the 28-year-old made a stunning third-set comeback to defeat world No.1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5) to advance to her second straight Round of 16 in New York.

A quarterfinalist last year, Rogers played a disciplined match to earn her first win in six matches against Barty, coming back from a double-break down in the final set to steal the win. The victory is Rogers' first over a top 10 player since defeating Serena Williams last year in Lexington and her first-ever win over a reigning world No.1. Rogers will face Britain's teen phenom Emma Raducanu in the fourth round.

British teenager Raducanu extended her dream run at Flushing Meadows with a stunning 6-0, 6-1 win over Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo.

French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No.14 seed, too entered the Round of 16 in an all-Russian clash, defeating Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-4 in the third round.

The Russian will face No.4 Karolina Pliskova in the fourth round. The Czech defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in a clinical two sets 6-3, 6-2.

Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu fired off 21 winners to make quick work of Belgian Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-2 in the third round.

Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu fired off 21 winners to make quick work of Belgian Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-2 in the third round. She next faces sixth seed and 2019 champion Andreescu.

Iga Swiatek, the No.7 seed from Poland, survived another three-setter as she outlasted No.28 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the Round of 16.

The 2020 French Open champion Swiatek, who came back from 3-6, 6-6 down to scrape past Fiona Ferro of France in the previous round, needed two hours and 17 minutes to overcome a surging Kontaveit. Agencies

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