John Isner celebrates victory during his men's singles fourth-round match at the 2018 US Open on Sept. 2, 2018 in Flushing, N.Y.
John Isner, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Serena Williams will all continue their quest for US Open victory after lodging victories in the round of 16 this holiday weekend in Flushing, New York.
Keys, who was the 2017 runner-up at the US Open and is currently seeded 14th, withstood a challenge from No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-3. Her quarterfinal opponent is yet to be determined.
No. 17 Williams played three sets for the first time this tournament, beating Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to make it through to the quarterfinals for the 10th time in a row and 15th overall. The four-time Olympic gold medalist’s next test will be former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic, who beat Williams in the semifinals at the US Open in 2016. That was the last year Williams competed in the tournament before taking time off for the birth of her daughter.
No. 3 Stephens, last year’s champion, defeated Belgian Elise Mertens on Sunday, 6-3, 6-3. After an easy victory over Mertens, to whom Stephens lost in their only other meeting earlier this season, she’ll face No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the quarterfinals.
No. 11 John Isner, the lone American man standing, continued his run advancing through after a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory over No. 25 Canadian Milos Raonic on Sunday. Isner, 33, who has already registered a number of five-set thrillers in Grand Slams this season, will now play in the US Open quarterfinals for the second time in his career and first time in seven years, facing 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who’s ranked third in the world.
In the doubles’ tournaments, four American teams remain alive in the tournament. In men’s doubles, Mike Bryan and Jack Sock of the U.S. are scheduled to play on Monday in the Round of 16. Fellow Americans Tennys Sandgren and Austin Karjicek are already onto the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win on Sunday.
On the women’s side, Caroline Dolehide and Christina McHale continue their quest at the US Open with a Round of 16 match scheduled to begin at 2:40 p.m. ET.
One American team remains in mixed doubles. McHale and Christian Harrison will play on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
