New York: Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka clawed their way into the last 16 of the US Open as Serena Williams sped past another milestone on Saturday.
Wawrinka, a two-time Grand Slam winner and twice a semi-finalist in New York, had a closes call, saving a match-point in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 victory over Britain’s Dan Evans.
The 31-year-old third seed saved the match point at 5/6 in the fourth set tiebreaker, breaking the will of his 64th-ranked opponent.
“It’s always good to win by saving match-point. It’s always something special, that’s for sure,” said Wawrinka, who had his left ankle taped after twisting it during the match. “It was a tough battle and I’m happy to get through.”
Many of Murray’s troubles against Paolo Lorenzi were of his own making as he allowed the energetic Italian journeyman to make him look ordinary through two sets before pulling himself together to win 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
“I had to stop rushing,” said Murray, who arrived at the year’s final Grand Slam off victories at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics and may have expected less from Lorenzi, the 34-year-old who only won a first ATP title in July.
“I was making a lot of unforced errors and (Lorenzi) is very solid, and doesn’t give you cheap points,” Murray said. “I was looking for those cheap points too often.”
Lorenzi, who became the oldest first-time winner on the ATP Tour when he lifted the trophy in Kitzbuehel in July, broke Murray for a 5-4 lead in the opening set — just the second time the 2012 US Open champ dropped his serve this week.
He gave the break back with an error in the next game, and Murray eked out the tiebreaker to go forward one set up after one hour.
The two traded four breaks of serve in the second before Lorenzi finally sealed the set in the 12th game, when Murray sent another looping forehand long.
In the third, however, Murray was able to make his opening break of Lorenzi stand up, breaking him again for a 4-1 lead and finishing off the frame with an ace.
Looking more and more comfortable, Murray broke again to open the fourth, and after he fended off a break point in the next game the affair took on an air of inevitability.
But it was a closer call than expected for the second-ranked Scot, a three-time Grand Slam champion fresh off winning gold in the Rio Olympics, against the world number 40 who had never made it to the third round of a major before.
He had won just two Grand Slam singles matches in 13 years before this week.
Murray said it wasn’t because he took Lorenzi lightly. “I expected a tough match, I expected long rallies,” he said. “I’m just disappointed with the amount of errors I made. I was quite impatient at times.
“When I did sort of play like I was planning on when I went out there, to be more patient, wait for the right balls to go for, I played much, much better.
“The unforced errors came down significantly and the winners went up. The third and fourth sets were comfortable.”
Murray takes on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Portugal’s Joao Sousa, for a quarter-final berth.
Wawrinka next faces 63rd-ranked Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, who advanced when a hurting Nick Kyrgios, hobbled by a painful right hip, retired while trailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Kyrgios, the 14th seed from Australia soldiered on after receiving treatment at the end of the second set before opting out at the end of the third.
Sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, two years removed from his run to the final, rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win over France’s Nicolas Mahut.
Nishikori, who has dropped a set in each of his matches so far, will take on Ivo Karlovic for a quarter-final berth after the towering Croatian defeated 19-year-old American Jared Donaldson 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
