US Open Day 7 - Thiem excels

Day Seven of the 2018 US Open and the round of sixteen matches from the top half of the draws were on the menu.

Dominic Thiem (9) faced last years finalist Kevin Anderson (5).

These two were beaten in finals of the most recent majors - Thiem by Nadal at Roland Garros in June, and Anderson by Djokovic at Wimbledon in July.

Anderson won the first six encounters between the pair, all on hard courts, but earlier this year Thiem broke the drought, on clay, in the Madrid semis.  After a number of round of sixteen results (apart from Roland Garros), Thiem was hoping for his first quarter final in a major away from Paris.

The opening set was on serve for ten games, and then Thiem stepped it up, using his powerful forehand to force Anderson back in the court, and with precision finding the lines.  The break arrived and accordingly the set was served out 7-5.

Thiem was a low 50% first serves in play, but he won every point when they did land, and 9 of 16 on the second delivery.

18 winners underlined a clean first set.

Set two was more dominant for the Austrian who began by winning eight of the first nine points, which included a service break and a 2-0 advantage over Anderson.

Yet to face a break point himself, Thiem broke the South African once more in the seventh game, and served his way to a 7-5 6-2 lead.

The third set was outstanding from both players, Anderson saving the only break point when serving at 3-3.

The fifth seed hit 22 winners and hardly put a foot wrong, but Thiem was virtually untouchable and a tie break was the only hope for Anderson.

Here, the forehand power and precision again formed the basis for Thiem to race to a 6-2 lead in the tie break.

The first of four match points was enough, as a chipped backhand won the day 7-5 6-2 7-6(2).

Dominic Thiem was in brilliant form and deservedly advanced to the quarter finals.

He won 41 of 45 points on his first serve, for the match, and his 42 winners far outweighed the 13 unforced errors.

Other round of sixteen results:

Men

• Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4 (I wish he would dial down the grunting - it is hard to watch his matches at full volume !) He will play Dominic Thiem in the quarter finals 
• John Isner (11) defeated Milos Raonic (25) 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-2.  With these two big servers, I’m amazed there were no tie breaks in the five sets played.
• Juan Marton del Potro (3) ended Day Seven by defeating Borna Coric (20) 6-4 6-3 6-1, and he will play John Isner in the quarter finals.  The Argentine hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament yet.

Women

• Karolina Pliskova (8) defeated Ash Barty (18) 6-4 6-4 after Barty converted none of her eight break points and Pliskova used both of her two to maximum effect
• Serena Williams (17) defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-0 4-6 6-3, and she will play Karolina Pliskova in the quarter finals 
• Anastasija Sevastova (19) defeated Elina Svitolina (7) 6-3 1-6 6-0, leaving only two of the top 8 seeds remaining.
• Sloane Stephens (3) defeated Elise Mertens (15) 6-3 6-3, and she will play Anastasija Sevastova in the quarter finals