US Open: Schwartzman upsets Zverev to reach quarters

Diego Schwartzman progressed to this third Grand Slam quarterfinal — and second in New York — after taking down sixth seed Alexander Zverev on Monday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Argentine recovered from the loss of the first set to run out a 3-6 6-2 6-4 6-3 winner over Zverev, who finished the match with 17 double faults and won just 32 per cent of his second serve points.

Schwartzman, who was a quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows in 2017 and at Roland Garros last year, will play the winner of the night match between former champions Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic.

Seeeeeee https://t.co/ekRaSDdpPS

— diego schwartzman (@dieschwartzman) September 2, 2019

“You know I think in my next round was against (Matteo) Berrettini because I was seeing his match point, his set point in the camera,” Schwartzman laughed on court.

“Was tough (today). I was feeling I had the chance to win this match and I was having a few break point and I couldn’t win those points. And then he was a break up (in the third set) but I can recover really quickly and I feel great after that; I think after that was a really big change in the match.

“I think Alex today has many problems with the serve. I’m a big returner and I think I take many chances with that kind of things.

“I think I played great tennis.”

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Earlier on Monday, Berrettini overpowered Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-4 7-6(6) to become the first Italian man in the US Open quarterfinals since 1977.

Berrettini, the No.24 seed from Italy, relied on a strong service game and some well-timed drop shots to overcome Rublev, who had taken out Nick Kyrgios and No.8 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Berrettini won 14 of his 15 service games and more than 80 per cent of his first-serve points, and he ripped 37 winners, including a deftly angled volley on match point to close it out on Monday.

It’s his deepest run at a Grand Slam event after reaching the fourth round at this year’s Wimbledon.

Berrettini became the first Italian man in the US quarterfinals since Corrado Barazzutti 42 years ago.

Next up for Berrettini is 13th-seeded Gael Monfils, who crushed Pablo Andujar for the loss of just five games.

Monfils’ 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory sends him through to a fourth quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows, where his best finish was a semifinal in 2016.

“I think everything I did tonight was working,” Monfils assessed. “I think my gameplac was good, was moving good and I’m hitting big the balls.

“When everything works, not much to say about it.”