News Americas, FLUSHING, NY, Fri. Aug. 31, 2012: Defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic and Sam Stosur have both advanced in the 2012 U.S. Open.
Djokovic beat Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 this afternoon, August 31st in front of a crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Serb fired five aces and committed just one double fault.
Djokovic will now face either Frenchman Julien Benneteau, the No. 31 seed, or surprise American Dennis Novikov, the college sophomore out of UCLA who beat Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz, 6-2, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Aussie Stosur, playing also on the Arthur Ashe court, beat American Varvara Lepchenko, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in a match that lasted for 59 minutes.
“I think as the match went on I probably became a little bit more comfortable, got used to her spin and maybe the wind a little bit more,” Stosur said after the match. “It was tricky out there during the first set, and when it’s tight, you know, it’s hard to really kick start something. I think once I got that first set then I maybe relaxed a little bit more.”
Stosur will now face the surging Laura Robson, the British teen who took out Kim Clijsters in her last career singles match in the second round and backed that up with an equally-stunning win over No. 9 seed Li Na on Friday.
