Tim Smyczek's exit means United States has not had a men's player in Round 4 in any Grand Slams this year
In a historic flop for American men’s tennis, no player reached the fourth round of the US Open, or any Grand Slam this year, with the loss of last man standing Tim Smyczek on Sunday at Flushing Meadows.
America’s Tim Smyczek reacts during his Round Three match against Marcel Granollers on Sunday. Pic/AFP
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Spain’s Marcel Granollers beat the 109th-ranked US wildcard 6-4, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 after three hours and 24 minutes to reach the last 16 and complete a humiliating and unprecedented Open-era Grand Slam wipeout for American men.
“I really wanted to win for you guys,” Smyczek told Grandstandsupporters. It came on the heels of no US man reaching the third round at Wimbledon for the first time since 1912 and last month, which produced the first week in rankings history without a top-20 US player.
While US boys once dreamed of being the next Jimmy Connors or Andre Agassi, American tennis has been reduced to trying to pilfer the next potential Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods from rival sports to try and reverse the fall from grace.
Djoko, Murray cruise
Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic reached the US Open last 16 on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over world number 95 Joao Sousa, the first Portuguese man to make the third round.u00a0Djokovic, the 2011 champion and bidding to reach the final for a fourth year in succession, next faces either American wildcard Tim Smyczek or Marcel Granollers of Spain for a place in the quarter-finals.
Defending champion Andy Murray beat another man called Mayer at the US Open to reach the last 16 on Sunday. The third-seeded Briton, who ended his country’s 76-wait for a Grand Slam men’s champion when he won his maiden major title in New York last year, eased past Germany’s world number 49 Florian Mayer, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2.u00a0His win was built on an impressive 42 winners and seven aces and followed his second-round victory over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.
Serena in quarters
Top-ranked defending champion Serena Williams defeated US 15th seed Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
Williams won eight of the last nine games in the much-anticipated clash to reach a last-eight matchup against Spanish 18th seed Carla Suarez Navarro.u00a0
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