US Open Day 6 Wrap - An American star falls and an Italian star is born

American John Isner lost to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round on Day 6

The Labour Day weekend at the US Open did not get off to a good start for the local fans as John Isner, the top-ranked American and the only realistic hope of an American champion on the men’s side, was beaten on Day 6.

For the second straight year, the very tall American fell to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Last year, the 22nd seeded German needed five sets; this year, he needed one less.

Isner hit 26 aces in the match as well as 65 winners, but his 40 unforced errors proved to be too costly for the American. His opponent had 38 winners to just 17 unforced errors. Kohlschrieber also played the break points better – converting an incredible 3 out of 4 opportunities presented to him while Isner could manage only 2/7.

After the match, Isner admitted that he simply ran out of gas in the fourth set tie-break after failing to serve out the set earlier. “[It was] more of a fatigue thing, which was my own fault. I felt like I wore myself out getting charged up out there. It’s hard to explain, but I used too much energy doing that. There’s a time to do it, and you could keep it a little bit more reserved. I just let out too much energy at the end of that fourth set when I needed to keep as much energy as possible. If I could have held on, not gotten broken there at the end of the fourth set, I would have liked my chances in the fifth. But in that tiebreaker I was pretty gassed.”

Kohlschreiber now goes on to meet second seed Rafael Nadal, who easily defeated Croatian Ivan Dodig in straight sets. Roger Federer also reached the last 16 with an easy win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino under the lights and next meets Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo, who ended the run of British qualifier Daniel Evans in four sets.

Federer and Nadal are now just one win away from a mouth-watering quarter-final.

With Isner and 20-year-old Jack Sock (who lost to 18th seeded Janko Tipsarevic in four sets on Saturday) going down on Saturday, the last American standing is the 23-year-old Tim Smyczek.

If Smyczek, ranked no. 109 in the world, loses to Spain’s Marcel Granollers on Sunday, it will mark the first time in the Open era that no American male player has reached the last 16, this coming just a few weeks after no American man was ranked in the top 20 for the first time since the computer rankings were introduced.

Fourth seeded David Ferrer, eighth seeded Richard Gasquet and tenth seed Milos Raonic each won in four sets to also reach the last 16.

On the women’s side, 21-year-old Italian Camila Giorgi made a big splash, upsetting former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two and a half hours under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Giorgi hit 46 winners to just 13 for the Dane while she also had 45 winners to 27 for Wozniacki.

Camila Giorgi, ranked 136th in the world, defeated Caroline Wozniacki

The 21-year-old Italian is ranked no. 136 in the world, but her striking looks means she is already a popular figure in online tennis forums and was trending on Twitter worldwide soon after her win. “It was amazing this match, especially my first time on this court. The crowd was amazing, too. I have to say thank you to my team, they are so supportive,” she said after the match.

Giorgi is now in a section which has three Italians. She meets 10th seed Roberta Vinci, who beat another Italian Karin Knapp in straight sets while compatriot Flavia Pennetta, a former world no. 10, will meet pre-tournament dark horse Simona Halep. Pennetta beat former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova while Halep upset 14th seeded Maria Kirilenko for the loss of just one game to win for the 33rd time in her last 38 matches on tour.

Seventh seeded Petra Kvitova, down with a virus, was beaten by American Alison Riske, who will take on former world no. 5 Daniela Hantuchova for a place in the quarter-finals. The 30-year-old Slovak beat Israeli qualifier Julia Glushko in a third set tie-breaker.

Meanwhile, second seed Victoria Azarenka survived her first test of the event, coming back to beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and forty minutes. Azarenka will meet former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the last 16. The 25-year-old Serb also needed three sets to beat the American Christina McHale 4-6,7-5, 6-4. McHale served for the match at 5-4 in the second set before Ivanovic fought back to take the match into the deciding set.

From an Indian perspective, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes all won their third round doubles matches with their respective partners. But the big win came for Divij Sharan, who is through to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Quote of the Day – Roger Federer, on being asked why he and Rafael Nadal had not met previously at the US Open – “Maybe more his fault…I really hope it can happen this year”

Matches to look forward to on Day 7 – (1) Serena Williams vs (15) Sloane Stephens; (5) Li Na vs (9) Jelena Jankovic; (9) Stanislas Wawrinka vs Marcos Baghdatis; (4) Paes/ Stepanek vs (14) Llodra/ Mahut