Dimitrov and Monfils set to light up Ashe
Originally published on 02/09/14
US Open, day nine order of play
Play starts on all courts at 11am EST / 4pm BST unless stated otherwise
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Scott Lipsky (USA) / Rajeev Ram (USA) v
Eric Butorac (USA) / Raven Klaasen (RSA) [12]
Not before midday: Belinda Bencic (SUI) v Shuai Peng (CHN)
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [7] v Gael Monfils (FRA) [20]
Not before 7pm: Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [17] v Roger Federer (SUI) [2]
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [10] v Sara Errani (ITA) [13]
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Midday: Venus Williams (USA) / Serena Williams (USA) v
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) / Elena Vesnina (RUS) [4]
Marin Cilic (CRO) [14] v Gilles Simon (FRA) [26]
Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] v Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Not before 5pm: Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) [1]
David Marrero (ESP) / Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [7]
Match of the day: Belinda Bencic v Shuai Peng
The third quarter of the women’s singles draw always had the potential to throw up a surprise, but few people expected two unseeded players to emerge from a section that featured Agnieszka Radwanska, Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber and Lucie Safarova.
Yet here we are, with Bencic – at 17, the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since her mentor Martina Hingis reached the last eight in 1997 – facing Peng, who has confounded a wholly unimpressive build-up to the year’s final major with wins over Radwanska, Roberta Vinci and Safarova.
Between them, the duo have dropped just one set – Bencic was taken the distance by hard-court form player Kurumi Nara in the second round before beating Kerber and Jelena Jankovic in straight sets. Something’s got to give…
Look out for: Gael Monfils
Frankly, tennis fans should never take their eyes off him. Even by his own pyrotechnic standards La Monf has been in rare form in New York, producing one of the shots of the tournament against Alejandro Gonzalez while furthering his reputation as the sport’s great entertainer into the bargain.
But he’s been doing the serious stuff too – and in some style, beating compatriot Richard Gasquet in straight sets to reach the fourth round at the US Open for the first time since his quarter-final run in 2010. No.7 seed Grigor Dimitrov awaits in what could be one of the great shot-making matches of the tournament.
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