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09/07/10 05:40:00
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09/07 17:35 CDT Wawrinka beats Querrey in 5 sets at US Open
Wawrinka beats Querrey in 5 sets at US Open
By RACHEL COHEN
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stanislas Wawrinka beat Sam Querrey in five sets to put two
Swiss men in a Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time in the Open era -
and keep the Americans out of the U.S. Open quarters for the second straight
year.
Wawrinka won 7-6 (9), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday to join a countryman
whose presence this deep in a major tournament is just assumed: Roger Federer.
Not so for Wawrinka. The 25-year-old had been 0-5 in the round of 16 at Grand
Slams.
The U.S. men, meanwhile, had at least one quarterfinalist at their home major
each of the first 41 years of the Open era. That changed in 2009, and now it's
happened again.
Querrey himself is still searching for his first Grand Slam quarterfinal berth.
He had his chances Tuesday. So did the 25th-seeded Wawrinka, as momentum swung
back and forth as quickly as the wind whipped around Arthur Ashe Stadium. The
two players traded mistakes and big shots for nearly 4 1/2 hours.
No. 20 Querrey wasted three break points in the third game of the final set,
which seemed headed to another tiebreaker until Wawrinka made one final push
leading 5-4.
Querrey fought off one match point with a lob that was just high enough to
force deuce. But after Querrey hit a forehand into the net, Wawrinka made the
most of his second chance.
In the first two sets, each player went up 3-0 to start a tiebreaker only to go
on to lose it.
Querrey was fortunate to even be in that second tiebreaker after saving four
set points at 4-5. He appeared to be in control in the third set, going up a
break, but Wawrinka rallied to break him twice and close out the set.
The 22-year-old Querrey was in the midst of a breakthrough season, reaching the
fourth round at a second straight Grand Slam. He entered the top 20 in the
rankings for the first time in July and had won four titles this year; only No.
1 Rafael Nadal has more.
With Wawrinka upsetting fourth-seeded Andy Murray in the third round, the draw
seemed to be opening up for Querrey to make a deep run. His quarter of the
bracket didn't have a top-10 seed left.
In contrast, Wawrinka didn't come into the Open looking like a future
quarterfinalist. A former top-10 player, his ranking had slipped to No. 27, the
lowest in more than two years.
But Wawrinka had the experience of a 13-7 record in five-set matches. Querrey
was just 1-2.
Wawrinka will next face Mikhail Youzhny, who briefly slowed Spain's march
through the U.S. Open bracket.
The 12th-seeded Russian beat Tommy Robredo, the lowest-ranked man left in the
draw, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. The 41st-ranked Robredo was one of a record six
Spanish men to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
Two will make the quarters: Nadal faced 23rd-seeded Feliciano Lopez and
eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco took on No. 10 David Ferrer in a pair of
all-Spanish matchups later Tuesday.
"They have a lot of courts. They have a lot of good facilities to practice
well," Youzhny said. "I think it's not really expensive to practice in Spain
for Spanish people. In Russia now it's much expensive to practice in Moscow.
Not everybody can do this one."
The women's quarterfinals opened Tuesday with two appealing matchups: No. 2 Kim
Clijsters, the defending champion, against No. 5 Sam Stosur, and No. 3 Venus
Williams against No. 6 Francesca Schiavone.
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