IN the latest US Open women’s match in history Maria Sakkari walked away victorious from her Round of 16 clash with Bianca Andreescu following an epic three-set match. Sakkari could finally celebrate the win at 2:14am, cruising past the previous latest finishing time which was more than an hour earlier. The Greek 17th seed dug deep across two tiebreakers and some medical timeouts for a struggling Andreescu, to dump the sixth seed Canadian from the event she won two years prior.

In what was an incredible contest of not only shotmaking and power, but also resilience and composure, Sakkari finally put to bed the knock of closing out tight games. It did take her four match points in the final game of the match to secure the 6-7 7-6 6-3 victory, but she got up in three hours and 29 minutes. The more worrying sign was the perennially injured but incredibly talented Andreescu limping to the line, but never giving in, even earning a game point in the final game, before Sakkari rallied once more and a lob got the better of the Canadian on match point to send the Greek talent into the quarter finals.

The remaining three matches all went down in straight sets, but were very different in the way the final results read. For teenager Emma Raducanu, the next biggest British hope powered through Shelby Rogers in just 66 minutes, stunning the home crowd. Rogers, who overcame world number one Ash Barty two days prior, had no answers for the 18-year-old, who was calculated with 18 winners and only 14 unforced errors, whilst Rogers had 14 and 29. Raducanu also served the only three aces of the game, and won 64 and 50 per cent of her first and second serve points to control proceedings.

“It means a lot to have gone out there and to have performed,” Raducanu said post-match. “Shelby Rogers is an extremely experienced opponent, so I knew I would have to bring it today.

“To play on Ashe for the first time, it was a little bit of a nervy experience in the beginning. I was really proud of myself, how I managed to settle and regroup and find a level that at the end took me to the win.”

Now Raducanu will test herself against 11th seed Belinda Bencic, following the Swiss talent’s straight sets win over seventh seed Iga Swiatek. The 2020 Roland Garros champion pushed the lower ranked player in the first set, with the tiebreaker going all the way to 14-12 before Bencic could claim the win. The whole match lasted two hours and seven minutes despite being straight sets, with the final score 7-6 6-3. Bencic won 75 and 53 per cent of her first and second serve points compared to Swiatek’s 69 and 46 per cent, and hit two more winners, but two more unforced errors, in what was an incredibly tight game.

“I definitely had an idea what she was going to do, what her plan would be,” Bencic said post-match. “And also I was telling myself I improved a lot in certain areas of my game, which then makes the tactic for her a little bit different again. “And then she kind of had to adjust that mid-match. I was kind of prepared for this, so I’m happy that worked well.”

Meanwhile fourth seed Czech Karolina Pliskova took care of 14th seed Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, in a match that lasted 95 minutes. Pliskova is the second highest remaining player in the draw, and she won 7-5 6-4 over her opponent, with five more winners (24-19) and 10 less unforced errors (24-34). She also won 71 and 52 per cent of her first and second serve points from a 64 per cent serving efficiency, whilst breaking four times to two in the match.

“I’ve been playing so much tennis and I’ve been having so many wins lately in the last couple weeks, I think that kind of helps to relax more and just to enjoy a little bit more,” Pliskova said post-match. “Of course, the motivation is much higher. I think everything is kind of connected. I can somehow play more free, there is not so much pressure on me that I have to win because I played well the last couple weeks. I think this also kind of helped to play better tennis, if you are more relaxed and smile here and there.”

In tomorrow’s quarter fifth seed Elina Svitolina takes on Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez during the day session while second seed Aryna Sabalenka hopes to reach a US Open semi-final by defeating Roland Garros reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova in the night session.

US OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[4] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) defeated [14] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 7-5 6-4
[17] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated [6] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 6-7 7-6 6-3
[11] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated [7] Iga Swiatek (POL) 7-6 6-3
[Q] Emma Raducanu (GBR) defeated Shelby Rogers (USA) 6-2 6-1

Picture credit: Getty Images