Bouchard ousted in quarters while Murray, Djokovic advance on Day 8
NEW YORK -- While all the other top seeds keep falling around her, No. 1 Serena Williams keeps producing dominant performances. A scorching Day 8 at the U.S. Open saw Serena advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year. Meanwhile, the woman who has posted the most consistent results at majors this year, Eugenie Bouchard, bowed out.
What happened
Eugenie Bouchard's semifinal streak ends: There will be no "Slam Semifinal Slam" for Bouchard. The 20-year-old Canadian, the only woman this year to make three major semifinals, struggled with the heat and her consistency in a 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to 17th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round. Makarova is in the midst of a career-best year, up to a personal-best No. 18 when the tournament began. She has not lost a set en route to her second straight U.S. Open quarterfinal.
This is an upset on paper, but Makarova has had a stellar hard-court season that includes semifinal appearances at the Rogers Cup and Citi Open. Those results came after she advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.
The Russian left-hander almost squandered her first-set lead, getting broken when she served for the set at 5-4, but she rebounded to play a strong tiebreaker. At 3-2 in the second set, Bouchard called a medical timeout and looked like she was suffering from the hot and humid conditions. She was broken immediately, and though she did her best to mount a comeback, Makarova was able to hold on. She'll play Victoria Azarenka, who rallied past Serbian qualifier and crowd favorite Aleksandra Krunic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at night.
Serena Williams keeps cruising: It took her four attempts this season, but Williams is finally into the quarterfinals of a Slam after beating Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 for her fourth consecutive straight-set victory over unseeded opponents. With Bouchard's loss, Williams is the only woman ranked in the top 10 remaining in the draw. Williams will play 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will square off in the quarterfinals: It was supposed to be a coin-flip match between Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but the Brit put in a business-like and vintage performance to win 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. There was no repeat of the cramping episode from his opening-round match, which was played in similarly steamy conditions. Murray defeated a top 10 player for the first time since knocking off Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last year. He'll play Djokovic next after the Serb ousted 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to his 22nd consecutive Slam quarterfinal.
Kei Nishikori wins late-night marathon: Nishikori overcame fifth-seeded Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-4 in a four-hour, 19-minute match that ended at 2:26 a.m., equaling the record for latest finish at the U.S. Open. The 10th seed became the first Japanese man to make the quarterfinals since 1922. Next up is No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, who cracked 75 winners in a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 victory over No. 16 Tommy Robredo.
Taylor Townsend and Donald Young are into the semifinals of mixed doubles: How about that? The two Chicago kids who have known each other for years eked out a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 10-5 win over Ashleigh Barty and John Peers.
Good day for American juniors: No. 1 girls' seed CiCi Bellis won her first match in straight sets on the Grandstand court. No. 4 Tornado Alicia Black also won. On the boys' side, No. 3 Jared Donaldson and No. 4 Stefan Kozlov won. No. 6 Francis Tiafoe won his first match on Sunday.
Photo of the day
Al Bello/Getty Images
Bouchard battled the heat all day, best shown here during a medical timeout.
Video of the day
I am 100 percent in support of the Jennifer Beals Flashdance move as a celebratory dance:
Quote of the day
"I'm not at an age where I want to be running a lot. It's wonderful to hear. Yeah, no, I don't need to be running 20 miles. I can and I have and I'm able to run really fast, as we all know. I can run down any ball on the court. But, hey, if I don't have to move as much, that's fine with me, too." -- Serena Williams
