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US Open Diary: Day Six


 

Originally published on: 04/09/11 00:35

The first player to retire was Tomas Berdych who was trailing Sebian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 5-0 before calling it a day. Speaking after the match the No.9 seed said the retirement was due to pain in his right shoulder that had troubled him before.

“I felt it in the end of the second set with Roger in Cincinnati,” the former Wimbledon finalist said. “I was kind of lucky to finish that match up and to close it up in two sets; then when I start with Novak it was pretty much same as today.”

“I need to work on it with the physios, doctors, and try to put it all right to be ready until the end of the season.”

Berdych’s exit was followed fairly swiftly by that of Marcel Granollers, who was on Court 17 playing fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. The former world No.1 had defeated Gael Monfils in five sets the previous day and admitted he was feeling the full effects of the marathon match.

“Obviously I felt very tired yesterday. Today I was a little bit better, but still, you know, very tired in all my body,” said Ferrero. “Of course, it helped me a little bit with Marcel today. I was hoping to not play a long match, but yeah, one to ten, I’m tired six or seven today for sure.”

The two beneficiaries of the retirements today, Tipsarevic and Fererro, will meet in the fourth round.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw Roger Federer dropped a set against Marin Cilic but advanced to the fourth round where he will face Juan Monaco, who defeated Tommy Haas.

There were no retirements in the women’s draw, so the tally for the week remains at four retirements and two walkovers. Among the winners today were Serena Williams, who came through victorious against Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, who was untroubled by Vania King, defeating her 6-2, 6-4.

The prize for the best celebration of the day goes to Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges who played doubles against Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. The German duo lost the first set and when they clawed back the second in a tiebreaker they were chest bumping to rival the Bryan Brothers. They were however defeated 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, in a match that lasted two hours and 24 minutes.

Petkovic, who has been suffering from pains in her right knee, won her singles match earlier in the day against Roberta Vinci. Let’s hope she enjoyed the epic doubles, even in defeat, because she will need to be fighting fit for her fourth round singles match on Monday against Carla Suarez Navarro.

Andy Murray will play his third round match on Sunday in the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The match against Feliciano Lopez starts at 7pm local time (midnight BST). The match between Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian is scheduled for 11am local time (4pm BST).

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.