The last of the round of sixteen matches were completed on Day Eight of the 2018 US Open which saw a return to the high temperatures and uncomfortable humidity of the early days of the tournament.
First to deal with the heat, in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, were Kei Nishikori (21) and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The Japanese number one broke in the second game to lead 2-0, but Kohlschreiber replied with a break of his own for 1-2. Nishikori then produced a consistent serving display which prevented the German from contesting at any effective competitive level for the rest of set one and the whole of set two.
A second break saw Nishikori wrap up the opening set 6-3, complete with 85% of points won on first serve. (Although the percentage of first serves landing in play was too low for comfort)
Set two was more convincing for the 2014 US Open runner up, as he hit nine winners past Kohlschreiber, kept his error count even lower than in set one, and never faced a break point.
The pressure on Kohlschreiber was enough to create a few break opportunities, two of which were converted, and set two fell to Nishikori 6-2.
Kohlschreiber found some freedom in the third set, and his shot making more closely resembled that shown in his fine third round win over Sascha Zverev. However it was Nishikori who grabbed the decisive first break, proceeding to a 5-4 lead with serve to come.
Kohlschreiber fought hard, and ultimately a Japanese double fault on break point levelled things at 5-5.
Nishikori was cool despite the setback, replying immediately with his second service break for the set, then serving a second time for the match, successfully on this occasion.
The win, 6-3 6-2 7-5, catapulted Nishikori into the quarter finals, his third best US Open performance (so far), following the final in 2014 and semi final in 2016. He was injured and didn’t play last year.
29 winners over the course of the match, only three more than Kohlschreiber, but Nishikori contributed just 18 unforced errors compared with 39 for his opponent.
Before the tournament, Nishikori was ranked 19 - now he is 13. A quarter final win would take him into the top twelve. After that, who knows ?
In a match between two powerful hitting 20 year olds, Naomi Osaka (20) just edged out Aryna Sabalenka (26) 6-3 2-6 6-4.
The pair together managed 50 winners to entertain the crowd, and with the tennis they are both delivering at such an early stage of their careers, there promises to be a long rivalry in the making.
Sabalenka is sitting at 18 in the live rankings, but could drop as many as three spots in the worst case scenario - all depends on results to come.
Osaka is number 16 in the live rankings, and should she win the tournament, would fly into the top ten.
Other round of sixteen results:
Men
- Novak Djokovic (6) defeated Joao Sousa 6-3 6-4 6-3
- Marin Cilic (7) defeated Davis Goffin (10) 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4, and will play Kei Nishikori in the quarter finals
- John Millman upset Roger Federer (2) and most of the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the night session with his remarkable 3-6 7-5 7-6(7) 7-6(3) victory. Now that this mountain has been scaled, another peak appears in the form of quarter final opponent Novak Djokovic.
Women
- Madison Keys (14) defeated Dominika Cibulková (29) 6-1 6-3
- Lesia Tsurenko defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-7(3) 7-5 6-2, and will play Naomi Osaka in the quarter finals
- Carla Suárez Navarro (30) defeated Maria Sharapova (22) 6-4 6-3, and she will play Madison Keys in the quarter finals
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