US Open: Djokovic, Murray book thrilling quarter-final showdown

New YorkFormer champions Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray booked a tantalizing US Open quarterfinal duel on Monday with straightsets fourthround victoriesWorld number one and top seed Djokovic didnt let Philipp Kohlschreiber stand in the way of another Grand Slam lasteight appearance defeating the 22nd seed from Germany 61 75 64 on another oppressively muggy New York day Eighthseeded Scot Murray advanced with a hardfought 75 75 64 victory over ninthseeded JoWilfried Tsonga avenging a loss to the Frenchman in the Toronto Masters last monthNovak Djokovic and Andy Murray Pic AFPDjokovic and Murray boast a long rivalry in which the Serbian owns a 128 record They are 22 in Grand Slam finals including Murrays triumph over Djokovic in the 2012 final at Flushing Meadows for his first major crown Tough match Murray said of the looming contestWeve had a lot of long ones We played a long one here a few years ago I have great memories from that match Djokovic reached his 22nd straight Grand Slam quarterfinal a run that stretches back to Kohlschreibers victory over him in the third round of the 2009 French Open Im very glad obviously that I had so many consecutive quarterfinals of Grand Slams It says that I do value these tournaments the most and try to always perform my best tennis in them Djokovic saidThe Wimbledon champion looked headed for a short days work when he raced through the first set in 25 minutes But Kohlschreiber dug in keeping his nose in front on serve and forcing Djokovic to fend off a set point in the 10th game of the second Djokovic did so with a stinging forehand passing shot to end a rally that sent the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd wild then broke Kohlschreiber for a 65 lead Serving for the set Djokovic saved another break point with an offspeed service winner and having wrapped up the second set he broke Kohlschreiber to open the third and marched home from thereIt doesnt feel that it went very easily Djokovic said Philipp is a tough player Tough conditions Murray broke Tsonga in the final game of each set en route to his victory first recovering an early break in both the second and third It was extremely tough conditions very humid and obviously windy Murray said It started to cool down at the end but the first two sets were very long tough setsAustralian Open champion Stan Wawrinka the third seed powered past 16thseeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 75 46 76 97 62 Wawrinka fired 18 aces and 75 winners to Robredos 19 saving two set points in the thirdset tiebreaker and dominating the fourth set It was a really tough battle today said Wawrinka who also survived a tumble into the courtside seats in Armstrong Stadium when he hit the board surrounding the court at full stretch for a shot From that Im OK Im more tired from the running from the match he said When you win its always more easy to feel good afterTwo of the ATPs rising stars will duel under the floodlights as 23yearold Canadian Milos Raonic and 24yearold Kei Nishikori of Japan reprise their fourthround clash at Wimbledon won by Raonic on his way to a first Grand Slam semifinal The fifthseeded Raonic is enjoying a careerbest season and at a careerbest number six in the world is the secondyoungest player behind 23yearold Grigor Dimitrov in the top 10 Nishikori the 10th seed became the first Japanese man to break into the top 10 this season with two titlesWhile Raonic has the reputation of a bigserver with the secondmost aces this year on the ATP tour Nishikori has been impressive on his serve in reaching the last 16 Hes been broken only twice saving 17 of 19 break points he faced in his first three matches The winner will face Wawrinka for a semifinal place