SI

The return of Woz, Ferrer bounced and more from Day 7 at the U.S. Open

NEW YORK -- Day 7 at the U.S. Open had heat, humidity, rain, and ... sunshine (sorry). Caroline Wozniacki upended Maria Sharapova in the upset of the day, David

Courtney Nguyen

The return of Woz, Ferrer bounced and more from Day 7 at the U.S. Open
The return of Woz, Ferrer bounced and more from Day 7 at the U.S. Open /

NEW YORK -- Day 7 at the U.S. Open had heat, humidity, rain, and ... sunshine (sorry). Caroline Wozniacki upended Maria Sharapova in the upset of the day, David Ferrer bowed out and Roger Federer got a little help from the tennis gods in advancing to the fourth round. 

What happened

Caroline Wozniacki gets the monkey off her back: The Dane came into today's match against fifth-seed Maria Sharapova having won 22 of her last 27 matches. She won a small title in Istanbul in July. She got her first two top 10 wins of the season a few weeks ago and she pushed Serena Williams to three sets in back-to-back weeks on hard courts. As well as she was playing she still needed that big signature win to announce to the world that yes, she was indeed back to being a real threat. She finally got that win Sunday, grinding down Sharapova for a hard-earned 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win. She'll play 14th seed Sara Errani in the quarterfinals. 

David Ferrer makes an early exit: The fourth seed couldn't deal with the stifling humidity and went out to 26thseed Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. This was his earliest loss at a non-grass major since the 2010 French Open. 

Roger Federer bounces back after a rain delay: Federer was down 2-5 in the first set to Marcel Granollers when the skies opened up and the players were ushered off the court for a rain delay. When play resumed, Federer got his teeth into the match and cruised to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win. He plays Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round. Bautista Agut continued his great year, beating Adrian Mannarino in straight sets to make the fourth round of a Slam for the second time this year. 

Dominic Thiem having a U.S. Open debut to remember: The unseeded 20-year-old didn't let his win over good friend Ernests Gulbis go to waste. He had no problems with 19th-seed Feliciano Lopez, winning 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to make the fourth round in his U.S. Open debut. Correction: Mega debut. 

Peng Shuai beats another seed: No Li Na? No problem. China's Peng Shuai is into the quarterfinals after beating her third straight seed, upending 15th-seed Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4. Peng has not lost a set through four matches, which included wins over Zheng Jie, fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, and 28th-seed Roberta Vinci. 

Belinda Bencic stuns No. 10 Jelena Jankovic: With Martina Hingis cheering her on from her box, 17-year-old Belinda Bencic played a match that betrayed her rookie status, beating Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3 to advance to her first Slam quarterfinal. Just to illustrate how meteoric the Swiss phenom's rise has been: this time last year she was the No. 1 junior playing the junior U.S. Open tournament where she lost in the quarterfinals. Now she has a reasonable shot at the semifinals. She'll play Peng on Tuesday.

The Grigor and Gael show: The two will meet in the fourth round after Dimitrov bounced back from a first set bagel to defeat David Goffin 0-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Should we all start popping the popcorn now?

Photo of the day

Woz beats Sherapova .jpg
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Photo of the day: Old school edition

Old School US Open.jpg
Streeter Lecka/ Getty Images

Video of the day

How Wozniacki beat Sharapova, summarized in one point:

Quote of the day

Caroline Wozniacki:

"I have had a great summer. And I told Serena I'm pretty tired of her. Twice she beat me in three sets. I said, 'Can you just get out of my way?' We just laugh about it. This one was a great win for me. Maria, again, is a good player. For me, I think mentally as well to get that in my pocket is kind of nice. You know, I still have hopefully a few good matches in me here in this tournament. It's just exciting to be in the quarters once more."

Tweets of the day

Published
Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.

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