US Open 2022: Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova reach last 16, Carlos Alcaraz storms in
Widely-regarded as Nadal's Grand Slam heir apparent, the 19-year-old third seed Alcaraz defeated Jenson Brooksby of the United States 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on the back of 46 winners. Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021, managed to break one of his tennis shoes as he slid to reach a ball mid-match. "It's the third time that I have done this. As you can see, I do a lot of sliding," he said.
Alcaraz next faces 2014 champion Marin Cilic who fired 26 aces and 74 winners in total past Britain's Dan Evans in a 7-6 (13/11), 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-5 win. Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe made the last 16 for a third successive year by seeing off Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-4 and British seventh seed Cameron Norrie also clinched his third-round match with a comfortable 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 win over Danish teenager Holger Rune. Norrie next faces Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev who needed five match points to see off Canada's Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-6 (10/7). Swiatek came back from 1-4 down in the second set to reel off five successive games against the American who called a medical time out in the first set to have her blood pressure taken.
The 21-year-old Pole will face either Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen or Jule Niemeier of Germany for a place in the quarter-finals. Petra Kvitova downed ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza after saving two match points. Kvitova came through 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (12/10) and will take on Jessica Pegula of the United States for a quarter-final place. Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova said she had drawn inspiration from Serena Williams when the American legend saved five match points before eventually being eliminated on Friday. "I watched Serena and it was amazing how she was saving match