By Chris Oddo | Saturday September 2, 2017
Juan Martin del Potro is showing his best tennis of 2017 at the right time. The Tower of Tandil powered past No.11-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, to book a round of 16 rematch with Austrian Dominic Thiem in New York.
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Del Potro hammered 14 aces and struck 38 winners to just 19 for Bautista Agut, and he dictated play from start to finish, converting 5 of 13 break points and closing his victory in a tidy two hours and ten minutes.
After going just 4-3 on the North American hardcourts this summer, Del Potro will bid for his fourth consecutive win in New York when he faces Dominic Thiem for the third time.
Del Potro defeated Thiem last year when the Austrian was forced to retire due to injury in the second set, but Thiem is carrying stellar form in New York after downing Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets on Day 6.
“I'm very happy that I'm through in three sets,” Thiem said. “Also, I mean, he's in a very good form now and also the previous weeks and months, so it was a tough match.”
The Austrian improves to 11-3 lifetime at the U.S. Open and reached the round of 16 for the third time. He has never been beyond.
“For sure, by far, the best performance by me,” Thiem said after improving to 6-0 lifetime against Mannarino. “Of course there is always room to improve, but it was really way better, and I really like the feeling that it's getting better from match to match. It's necessary to improve a lot for the next round.”
Kohlschreiber, Dolgopolov Advance
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber has yet drop a set in New York and the 33-year-old reached his fourth U.S. Open round of 16 with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 win over Aussie John Millman. Millman was the last Aussie man remaining in the draw.
Alexandr Dolgopolov reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the fourth time by defeating Viktor Troicki, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.