Novak Djokovic reached his ninth consecutive US Open quarter finals with a battling performance against the unheralded Roberto Bautista Agut. Far from his best, the Serb squeezed through to face Feliciano Lopez, who defeated the Rafa Nadal conqueror, Fabio Fogini. It proved to be a monumental night for the Williams family, with wins for Venus and Serena setting up their second meeting this year.
Djokovic's mental strength maxed out
Up until last night, the dominant man in men's tennis had proven to be just that, with a series of straight sets wins in next to no time and the Serb barely leaving second gear.
His opponent, meanwhile, who became the first Spaniard younger than Rafael Nadal to break into the top twenty back in 2014, a season which saw him named the ATP's Most Improved Player, had endured a more gruelling time on court.
Not many had expected such a lacklusture performance from the Djokovic, as he hit 37 unforced errors during the match and struggled to reach the dizzying heights he has set himself. Despite comfortably dispatching Bautista Agut in the first set, the second was turned onto its head by the Spaniard, as he shocked Djokovic to break him and eventually level the scores.
Much to the disgust of Djokovic, who had been a break up and cruising in the set, as he stomped on his racket and stormed off of the court, disgusted with himself.
The next two sets continued in a similar fashion to the first two, with Djokovic struggling to come up with the opportunities to break his opponent, who was continuing to play some excellent tennis. But, in both sets, Djokovic would secure the break late on, and despite some ups and downs, would eventually win the match in four.
The match may prove crucial for Djokovic, with every player entitled to one poor performance throughout the two weeks of the championships.
But the champion found a way to get through it to win 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 and now he faces Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who easily brushed aside a chaotic Fabio Fognini to reach his first US Open quarter finals since 2008.
Lopez barely had to be at his best as his clever service game upset Fognini throughout their encounter, causing the Italian to cause as much damage to himself as he did Lopez.
Warned for hitting the ball into the crowd, hitting an overhead into the net when he was standing on the outer tramline and overall producing a performance nowhere near to that of the man who defeated Rafa Nadal, this was Fabio Fognini at his enigmatic finest.
Lopez continually rushed to the net and Fignini continually buried the ball into it, as he smirked and laughed with each lost point. He may have had to take a medical timeout at the end of the second set to have his bad back seen to, but it made little difference as he capitulated in the third for a 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-1 defeat.
The day's other men to win through to the quarter finals were Jo Wilfired Tsonga, who brushed aside another enigmatic character as his fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire produced a miserable display to lose 6-4 6-3 6-4, and the defending champion Marin Cilic lost a set but eventually defeated Jeremy Chardy.
Williams sisters roll back the year
During the 2008 WTA season, Serena and Venus Williams dominated the sport and played out two fantastic matches at Wimbledon, with Venus winning the final, and the US Open, with Serena winning in their quarter final.
Seven years later, history has almost repeated itself, as both sisters swatted aside lesser competition in the style of old to set up another dream match between the two.
Venus Williams, whose last grand slam title was that win in 2008, needed barely an hour as she demolished the talented young Anett Kontaveit to show the youngster that she still has much to learn in her 6-2 6-1 defeat.
Winning almost twice the amount of points as Kontaveit, Venus Williams power and experience proved too much for the Estonian, as she reached her first grand slam quarter final since the 2010 US Open - where she was eventually defeated by Kim Clijsters in the semi final.
Serena, meanwhile, was stretched slighty further by another young talent, as Madison Keys stuck with the dominant woman in tennis for over an hour, but in truth, never looked like troubling her as she fell 6-3 6-3. Serena, who famously has a chance to complete the grand slam with victory in Flushing Meadows, enjoys a 15-11 head to head win ration over Venus and after beating her comfortably at this year's Wimbledon, will be hoping for much of the same.
Mladenovic shocks Makarova
But the biggest shock of the night took place during the last match on
Arthur Ashe, as the highly rated Kristina Mladenovic battled past Ekaterina Makarova in three thrilling sets.
Mladenovic, who famously shocked Li Na at the 2014 French Open, added another scalp to her growing reputation and continued her impressive season which has seen her reach 35th in the world in the singles and fifth in the doubles.
The full report from the match will be on the site soon, so watch this space.
She will now face Roberta Vinci for a place in the semi finals, as the Italian benefited from the retirement of Eugenie Bouchard, who had enjoyed a revival at this year's US Open.
Whoever wins between Mladenovic and Vinci will repeat Peng Shuai's acheivement from last year and make it into the semi finals as an unseeded player.