US Open, Day 6: Thiem outclasses Cilic, Serena routs Stephens
Day 6 of the 2020 US Open saw Dominic Thiem defeating the 2014 champion Marin Cilic. The number two seed was all over Croatia's Cilic, thereby advancing to the round of 16. Meanwhile, world number 66 Frances Tiafoe knocked off Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. Among women, world number 8 Serena Williams ousted the 2017 champion Sloane Stephens, despite losing the first set.
Second seed Dominic Thiem continued his magnificent run, beating Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. In the first two sets, Thiem clinched 18 winners, committed just four unforced errors and broke serve four times on seven occasions. Although Cilic made a comeback in the third set, the former had the last laugh.
Frances Tiafoe will make his first appearance in the round of 16 as he beat Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Heading into round 3, world number 66 Fucsovics had owned their career head-to-head 2-0, including a three-set battle in Doha earlier this year. However, Tiafoe, the only American man left in the draw trounced him in 1 hour and 44 minutes, this time.
The number three seed Daniil Medvedev kept the American wild-card entrant J.J. Wolf on the backfoot, defeating him 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Interestingly, Medvedev is among the three men yet to drop a set this fortnight. On the other hand, Wolf too impressed throughout the match with his speed, and drop shots, however, his counterpart made less errors throughout the match.
The two American megastars Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens faced each other for the first time since 2015. Serena, who is still in search of her 24th Grand Slam title, dropped the opening set 2-6. This didn't pummel her as she raised her game in the second, winning 6-2. Notably, she won 10 of the last 12 games to make it 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
As many as 11 American women reached the third round of the women's singles draw at the 2020 US Open. Notably, four of them (Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Elise Mertens and Shelby Rogers) reached the round of 16 on Saturday.
