Baking heat, rain and the threat of lightning all forced stoppages in play at the US Open on Sunday but Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki marched on through a day of wild weather and upsets.
Former world number one Wozniacki had her fourth round match with Maria Sharapova halted briefly by the heat rule but it was the fifth-seeded French Open champion who wilted under a blazing sun, falling 6-4 2-6 6-2.
Later, rain interrupted Federer’s clash with Marcel Granollers before the five-time US Open champion came back from a set down to crush the Spaniard 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-1 and storm into the fourth round.
Gilles Simon and Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer sweated it out under a midday sun, the 26th seeded Frenchman posting the first big surprise in the men’s draw with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-3 win.
A stormy day of competition finished off with another upset on Arthur Ashe Stadium court as 17-year-old Swiss sensation Belinda Bencic swept past ninth-seeded Serb and former world number one Jelena Jankovic 7-6 6-3.
“It was always a dream to play on this court,” said Bencic, who is coached by Martina Hingis’s mother Melanie Molitor.
“I watched it as a kid and I always dreamt about playing here.”
Next up for Bencic is another giant-killer in China’s Peng Shuai.
The doubles specialist eased into the last eight with a 6-3 6-4 win over 14th-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova.
The departures of Sharapova and Jan-kovic leave only world number one Serena Williams, Canadian seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard and Wozniacki as the surviving members of the women’s top 10.
A grand slam title is the one major hole in Wozniacki’s considerable resumè and the Dane may never have a better opportunity to fill it with the draw having opened up.
The 2009 US Open runner-up is training to run the New York marathon later in the year and appeared better equipped to cope with the soaring temperatures and stifling humidity that took the players off court.
After play resumed, Wozniacki turned up her own heat in the third set.
“I think it will help me,” said Wozniacki, who will next face 13th seed Sara Errani, a three-set winner over Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
“Today was a tough battle out there. It was humid. It was hot. I had to change my dress. That rarely happens. It was just soaked. Definitely (the training) is helping, because I felt fresh out there and I felt like I could keep going.”
The Dane captured the decisive break in the third game after a spectacular point in which she raced three times across the baseline to retrieve shots before the Russian netted a backhand volley to fall behind 3-1.
Wozniacki broke Sharapova again for good measure in the final game to return to a grand slam quarter-final for the first time since the 2012 Australian Open.
Serena in last eight
Two-times defending champion Serena Williams rode her big serve to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia to advance to the quarter-finals yesterday.
Williams won every one of her first serve points in the opening set, including six aces, as she pounded in 63 per cent of them and never faced break point in the set.
The second set saw both players struggle on serve, with a total of six breaks registered, as Williams, who belted eight aces, won with her fourth service break in the final game of the 65-minute match between the ferocious hitters.
Williams will meet Italian 11th seed Flavia Pennetta, a semi-finalist last year who advanced with a 7-5 6-2 win against 29th-seeded Australian Casey Dellacqua.
Other result: Djokovic bt Kohlschreiber 6-1 7-5 6-4; Murray bt Tsonga 7-5 7-5 6-4.