Nadal, Fish, Murray, Del Potro still alive in New York

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal battled his way into the US Open quarterfinals by defeating Californian Sam Querrey, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 in an exciting match on Labor Day Monday in New York. Nadal, playing his first Grand Slam tournament as the top seed, has put together one of the best resumes in recent years, winning Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. The 22-year-old Spaniard started off quickly this afternoon, cruising to an easy first set win in 31 minutes and served for the second set at 5-4, but got broken twice before losing that set. As Querrey tried keeping the momentum in his favor, Nadal was able to gain his composure in enough time to earn two mini breaks in the third set tiebreaker, eventually earning Nadal the third set. After breaking the world No. 55 to go up 4-2 in the fourth set, Querrey found himself locked in a 16-minute game. Despite much of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd rooting for him, he couldn’t pull through as he blew seven break point chances in that game and eventually lost the match two games later when Nadal smashed an overhead winner to advance to his second quarterfinal appearance in three years.

Mardy Fish, meanwhile, entered this year’s tournament having never made it beyond the second round, but after steamrolling Gael Monfils in straight sets, Fish is now in his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. Fish, currently ranked No. 35 in the world, needed only about two hours to defeat Monfils, a 2008 Roland Garros semifinalist. Despite only making 47 percent of his serves throughout the match, the Tampa, Fla. resident was able to capitalize on 80 percent of first serves made. Fish smashed 44 winners during the match, spoiling Monfils 22nd birthday celebration. Fish, set to meet Nadal in the quarters, has put together impressive hard court results including wins over Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian en route to a runner-up finish at Indian Wells, and most recently a runner-up performance in New Haven. After losing his first career meeting to Fish, Monfils drops to 20-13 on the season.

No. 6 seed Andy Murray, guaranteed himself at least a No. 5 South African Airways ATP ranking when the tournament ends by hammering No. 10 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. The Scot, who advances to his first ever US Open quarterfinal, pounded 38 winners, including nine aces. The win marked Murray’s fourth win this year over Wawrinka and earned him a quarterfinal meeting with in form Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro (pictured), a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, winner over teenage sensation Kei Nishikori of Japan.

Del Potro overpowered Nishikori throughout the match, smashing 37 winners and breaking serve on seven occasions. The 19-year-old has played the best tennis of his young career this summer, winning titles in Kitzbuhel (Austria), Stuttgart, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. He will enter his match against Murray on a 23 match winning streak. Since winning in Austria, Del Potro’s ranking has risen from No. 65 to his current No. 17, which is a career high.