US Open Day Six Review: Murray, Nishikori and Wawrinka are the victorious marathon men

US Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 31 August 2008 / Leave a Comment

There was no respite for our man at the US Open Sean Calvert as he skipped from one court to another at Flushing Meadows to report on all the action - which included Andy Murray coming from two sets down to book his place in the next round.

The US Open blasted into life on Day Six here at Flushing Meadows as I witnessed by far the best day's play of this year's tournament.

On a ridiculously hot and humid Labor Day in New York there were four five set thrillers in the men's singles plus the Williams sisters in brutal form and in addition to all of that Rafa Nadal was on display as well.

My day kicked off on Court 11 and viewers on Sky Sports multi channel might have heard me cheering on Stanislas Wawrinka from courtside as he struggled against diminutive Italian Flavio Cipolla. There were no other voices to be heard, so it stands a good chance.

Most had opted to begin on Ashe where Venus Williams was up against Alona Bondarenko, but as I had a bit of cash on Stan, I went for a lower key opening and was soon wishing I hadn't.

Wawrinka couldn't get to grips with Cipolla's dinks, loops and slices and once he went a set down I headed to Ashe for a look at how Venus was getting on.

The former champ was in stunning form and she certainly wouldn't have had any problems blasting Cipolla off court, had that been the match-up. As it was she disposed of Bondarenko in double quick time.

Wawrinka had lost the second as well and my accumulator was looking bang in trouble early on, so instead of suffering on Court 11 I headed to Grandstand to watch Andy Murray take on Jurgen Melzer.

These two have quite a bit in common in terms of combustible tempers and an annoying propensity to over use the drop shot and it was surely a questionable decision to put the pair of them on a court with no hawk eye.

The sun had burst through by this time and I could only get a seat right in it as the shaded areas were full and as a consequence both I and Murray were beginning to feel the heat very quickly.

Murray went two down, but knowing that you're never out of it against the fragile temperament of the flaky Melzer, I left for a break from the heat and a glimpse of Nadal back on Ashe.

When I arrived Nadal was a set up but a break down in the second, however one special passing shot down the line restored the equilibrium and the number one seed went on to win 11 straight games and the match against a shell-shocked Victor Troicki.

The Serb, who has clearly modelled his service action on that of Goran Ivanisevic, was unable to do anything against a powerful Nadal onslaught and I left when the inevitable became apparent so as to concentrate on my desperately struggling bet.

Remarkably though by this time Wawrinka had turned it around on Court 11 and won in five and Murray was also on the comeback trail, so I opted to go back to the heat pit of Grandstand.

Murray was close to defeat in the third, but pulled it out in the breaker before cruising through the fourth as Melzer took a barely concealed breather. At one stage the Austrian pulled his racquet away from a Murray serve on game point and it hit a stunned ball boy right in the face.

Melzer then claimed a 'medical time out', which basically consisted of a massage prior to the final set, but it was the Scot, cheered on by a distinctly pro-Murray crowd who had the most energy and one break of serve proved decisive in the end.

Murray celebrated by treating us all to another glimpse of his somewhat pale and puny biceps after the winning shot and of course we all remember what happened in the match following the last time we suffered that particular celebration.

It was a wonderful match though and great entertainment for a packed Grandstand and balcony on the adjoining Louis Armstrong.

There was no respite for me though as I next ventured to Armstrong for a look at Nalbandian v Monfils and I suspected that this match would be trouble for the Argentine.

So it proved as he went out with barely a whimper in straight sets, but the sizable Argentine contingent had more to cheer when next on Grandstand came Juan Martin Del Potro in his clash with Gilles Simon.

This had the makings of a close one and it didn't disappoint as it went the distance before Del Potro outlasted the Frenchman to set up a last 16 match with either David Ferrer or Kei Nishikori.

That was next on Grandstand and I arrived just in time to hear Ferrer given a warning for an audible obscenity as he went two sets down to the Japanese star.

The Tokyo media were all over this one and they were loving it as Ferrer became increasingly frustrated.

This was another leg in my accumulator and I thought my luck was in as for the third time in the day a comeback from two sets down was on as Ferrer found his range.

The crowd were split between the two and there was a cracking atmosphere as the decider loomed.

I was confident that Ferrer would see it through, but in a draining final set Nishikori opened up a 5-2 lead and had match point, but an ill advised shout from a Japanese fan appeared to put him off and Ferrer levelled at 5-5.

Nishikori was not to be denied though and it was he that went through to face Del Potro in the next round, much to the discontent of Ferrer, whose racquet bore the brunt of his mood.

I was drained by this stage and even a glimpse of John McEnroe on the practice court couldn't enthuse me to stay on for Blake v Fish. The aggravating J-Block is the last thing you need after 11 hours of tennis.

So a thrilling day's sport came to an end and I just had time to head to the local to watch Blake go down in straight sets to his buddy Fish.