US Open 2018: Djokovic weathers the heat, now for Millman

Novak Djokovic did his part to set up an assumed blockbuster quarter-final clash with Roger Federer, only for John Millman to intervene.

Novak Djokovic celebrates his fourth-round win over Jaoa Sousa. Picture: Getty Images.

Novak Djokovic did his part to set up an assumed blockbuster quarter-final clash with Roger Federer, only for John Millman to intervene, at the US Open with a 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory over unseeded Joao Sousa yesterday.

Djokovic, who ended a 54-week title drought with his 13th Grand Slam crown at Wimbledon, will now meet the unheralded Australian who stunned five-time US Open champion Federer in their round of 16 match at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic said he was relieved to get past 68th-ranked Sousa in straight sets as temperatures soared again.

“Very happy to get this one done in straight sets,” said Djokovic, who left the court for a lengthy break after the second set and departed again for evaluation during a medical time-out early in the third before returning to wrap things up in exactly two hours.

Sousa, who got past 12th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta and No 17 Luca Pouille to become the first Portuguese man to reach a grand slam last 16, was “not happy” at Djokovic’s first long absence from the court, although he acknowledged there was no rule limiting time of a comfort break.

More damaging may have been his ire at the chair umpire’s refusal to allow a line call challenge in the seventh game of the final set on grounds he gestured too late. Distracted, he was broken at love in the next game and Djokovic served out the match without fuss.

“It was much more difficult than the score indicated,” said Djokovic, who said he struggled with a “couple of things” during the match but that the heat “was the adversity today”.

“You can’t do anything but try to be tough and survive, find a way to win,” he said.

Kei Nishikori, runner-up in 2014, was also pleased to get through in three sets.

After racing through the first two sets against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, he dropped his serve while serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, but managed to prevail 6-3 6-2 7-5.

“Man, really lucky to finish in three sets,” Nishikori said. “It was very hot on the court.”

Nishikori will fight for a semi-final berth against Croatian Marin Cilic, who beat him in the 2014 final.

That remains Nishikori’s best grand slam showing. After reaching a career-high fourth in the world in 2015 he slid down the rankings as a wrist injury sidelined him for six months, keeping him out of last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open.

Seventh-seeded Cilic, who needed eight match points in a five-set marathon against Australian teenager Alex de Minaur that spilled into Sunday morning survived some tense moments to get past 10th-ranked Belgian David Goffin 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 6-4.

Goffin served for the first set at 5-4 before Cilic went on to win the tie-breaker. Cilic said Goffin confided after the match he had a shoulder problem.

But Cilic still needed a third match point to clinch it.

“I was thinking one match point, second match point — I hope it’s not going to the eighth one,” Cilic said.

AFP