US Open day seven: Kvitova roars, Sharapova out

It had all been going according to plan – until today. The US Open bid adieu to two of its biggest stars (in the women’s draw, at least), as Maria Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza were both beaten in the fourth round.

The women: Muguruza, Sharapova stunned

In contrast with their male peers, the bottom half of the women’s draw has been – more or less – going to plan. Until today. In the space of a few short hours, the US Open saw both Maria Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza exit stage right, leaving Venus Williams as the favourite to reach the final.

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Sharapova was the first to go. The Russian, who has been riding a wave of support from the Arthur Ashe crowd, started the stronger against 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova, but the labours of the last week eventually caught up with her as she crashed out 5-7 6-4 6-2.

“I had to stay with her. I had to stay pumped up. I had to run. I had to be physically fit, to get every ball and, yeah, just make her work for every point,” Sevastova beamed after the match.

As day turned to night on Ashe, it was Muguruza’s turn in the spotlight. Petra Kvitova was always going to be a dangerous opponent, but Muguruza was widely expected to get the better of her – particularly after the Spaniard raced away to a 4-1 lead. But as the Czech settled, a combination of massive ground strokes and inspired net play upset the third seed and Kvitova assumed control. In the end, the Czech ran away to a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory.

“It was kind of a dream to come and play on the big stage (against one of) the top players in the world,” Kvitova said after the match. “I tried to work really hard to play here again … It means a lot.”

Kvitova will play Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, the American forced to dig deep against a resilient Carla Suarez Navarro in the 6-3 3-6 6-1 win.

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In the day’s other fourth round match, Sloane Stephens booked her place in the quarterfinals with a hard fought win over Julia Goerges. Stephens, who should crack the Top 50 after the tournament (she was outside the Top 900 at the start of the year), was a 6-3 3-6 6-1 winner.

The men: An unlikely set of quarterfinalists

Anyone complaining that men’s tennis is too predictable obviously hasn’t been paying attention to the bottom half of the men’s draw. If it was wide open going into the fourth round, it’s been blown to smithereens going into the quarters.

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Sam Querrey rounded out the bottom half of the men’s draw with his late night win over Mischa Zverev. After dismantling John Isner on Friday night, Zverev was expected to put up a fight against Querrey. But on the day, Querrey was simply too good. The American dominated in every area of the court as he swept to a 6-2 6-2 6-1 win in one hour 16 minutes.

Pablo Carreno Busta is the highest seed [12] left in this side of the draw, the Spaniard ending the dream run of qualifier Denis Shapovalov. In a tight match with little margin for error, Busta got the better of the Canadian 7-6(2) 7-6(4) 7-6(3).

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Busta will square off against Diego Schwartzman, perhaps the most improbable quarterfinalist in this half. The Argentine, who accounted for Marin Cilic in the third round, ousted mercurial Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-6(3) 7-5 2-6 6-2 in two hours 35 minutes. Needless to say his height (170cm) was as much a topic of conversation after the match as the result itself.

“The big guys have a little bit of advantage to play tennis because they can serve better, they can do a lot of things better,” Schwartzman opined. “If you are small, you just need to be focus in many things.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Anderson is a man at the other end of the height conversation. The 203cm giant walloped down 18 aces as he eased past Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-4 6-3 6-7(4) 6-4.