Casey Dellacqua is wondering what might have been after her bold bid to reach her maiden grand slam quarter-final came to an end at the US Open in New York.
Italy’s classy 11th seed Flavia Pennetta put paid to Australia’s singles interest for another year with a 7-5 6-2 fourth-round victory at Flushing Meadows on Monday night.
Striving to enter uncharted territory and set up a likely blockbuster quarter-final with world No.1 and titleholder Serena Williams, Dellacqua lamented losing a fiercely contested opening set in the muggy conditions.
The West Australian twice stood within two points of taking the set with Pennetta under pressure serving at 4-5.
“That was when I felt like, ‘C’mon, I can get this first set,’” Dellacqua said.
“I obviously didn’t get that point. I think she freed up a little bit saving that one, swung out a little bit.
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“She found her feet a bit better, her rhythm. That was probably a crucial point of the match and felt like I was finding my way, too.
“A bit disappointing not to get that.”
Dellacqua admitted playing singles at Arthur Ashe Stadium for only the second time – and first time since a night match against Maria Sharapova seven years ago – was a little intimidating.
“It’s obviously an extremely big court,” the 29-year-old said.
“Sometimes you can get a little caught behind the baseline because it’s such a different visual thing for you out there, more than probably any other court in the world purely because it is so big.
“We played on it in the doubles final, but it’s different when you have a partner out there; you’re not hanging out there by yourself.
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“Yeah, it did take me a little bit to probably find my shots. It is a different feel.
“I mean, that’s not the reason why I lost today. It was purely Flavia is a great player.
“She’s 11 in the world, done well here before for a reason. Today she was better on the day than me.”
In the men’s draw former champion Andy Murray has defeated France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.
The eighth-seeded Scot booked a clash with world No.1 Novak Djokovic, the man he beat in the 2012 final at Flushing Meadows for his first Grand Slam title.
Murray broke Tsonga in the final game of each set on Monday en route to victory, recovering an early break in both the second and third sets as he battled past the Frenchman, who had beaten him on his way to the title in Toronto in August in their last encounter.
“It was extremely tough conditions, very humid and obviously windy,” Murray said.
It started to cool down at the end but the first two sets were very long tough sets.”
Murray felt a turning point was when he saved three break points in the third game of the third set to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole.
He broke Tsonga in the next game to get the set back on serve and in the final game gave himself a triple break point with a precise backhand winner.
Tsonga saved one with an overhead, but misfired on the next to end it.
Djokovic defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1 7-5 6-4, reaching the last eight at the US Open for the eighth straight year.
It’s his 22nd successive grand slam quarter-final, a run that stretches back to Kohlschreiber’s victory over him in the third round of the 2009 French Open.
