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

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