 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 09 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Sep 2009 |
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| 10 Sep 2009 - Flushing Meadows, New York - Sandra Harwitt |  Related Audio |
| Robson and Watson Flying The Union Jack |
 Heather Watson interview - Day 4 US Open 2009 (MP3 format)
Laura Robson interview - Day 4 US Open 2009 (MP3 format)
Yuki Bhambri interview - Day 4 US Open 2009 (MP3 format)
 
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It was a good day for Great Britain when two promising junior players reached the quarterfinals of the US Open girls’ competition on Thursday.
Eleventh seed Heather Watson faced a tenacious opponent in Annika Beck of Germany, but came through with a 64 75 win for passage into the quarterfinals.
The 17-year-old Watson, who hails from the island of Guernsey, has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Academy since she was 12. She lived in the dorm for three years but now lives off-campus with her mother Michelle, who moved to Florida two years ago.
“Guernsey, you can go to the beach, eat fish-and-chips, and when you’re from there you know everybody, so that’s really good,” said Watson.
Watson struggled to close out the match, failing to serve it out in the seventh and ninth games, which enabled Beck to even the score to 5-all. Watson, however, won the final two games of the set to prevent Beck from taking the match into a third set.
“It was tough conditions today, really windy, which really affected my serve,” said Watson, who will play second seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand in the quarterfinals. “I had a really low first serve percentage which always put me on the back foot.”
The highly touted 15-year-old Laura Robson, who won the 2008 Wimbledon junior title and reached the final at the Australian Open this year, secured an easy 62 61 win over twelfth seed Tamaryn Hendler of Belgium.
Robson is happy to be into the US Open quarterfinals after losing in the early rounds at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, she didn’t hesitate to acknowledge that the downside to doing well is not being able to join her mother and sister on their New York shopping excursions.
“I’ve got a big list and it’s very disappointing,” Robson said of not getting to shop. “I’ve been looking on all the websites that I want to go: Bloomingdales, Barney’s, I went to (Henri) Bendels, but not for very long and not with very much money so it was not that successful a trip. I want to go to Spring Street in Soho and also Prince Street, and also the Lower East Side as well.”
Robson’s only hiccup in the match came when she was serving for the first set at 5-1 and had her serve broken on a third break point when she netted a backhand. She took care of the problem by breaking Hendler’s serve at 30-40 with a forehand winner in the next game.
“It was a lot harder than the score suggests because there was a lot of games that went to deuce and she had a few break point chances,” Robson said. “It wasn’t a routine match, but I thought I played well.”
Robson will play Lauren Davis of the United States in the quarterfinals. Robson’s mother insists that she has known Davis since the 12-and-unders, but the British teenager admitted she could not place a face to the name.
Sixteenth seed Beatrice Capra rebounded from a poorly played first set to oust fellow American Asia Muhammad 36 61 61 in another third round match.
“When I first walked out there it was really exciting going onto to Armstrong (stadium),” Capra said. “Asia came out really aggressive and was making her volleys, and I was really nervous in the first set. I think in the second set I was a lot more consistent and I made her play and she started going away after five balls.”
The second-seeded Lertcheewakarn outlasted fifteenth seed Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway 62 36 61. Ninth seed Daria Gavrilova of Russia defeated Silvia Nijiric of Croatia 64 76(7), while Yana Buchina of Russia upset tenth seed Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands 75 60.
Top seed Yuki Bhambri of India, hoping to add the US Open boys’ title to the Australian Open trophy he won earlier in the year, moved into the quarterfinals with a 64 63 win over American wild card Jack Sock.
“I think it (winning Australia) will go a long way because I’ve been in the situation before,” said the 17-year-old Bhambri. “I’ve played in the big stadiums, I’ve played against better opponents, and I think it’s going to make a big difference.”
Three American boys’ have used the home court advantage to advance to the quarterfinals – sixteenth seed Denis Kudla, Chase Buchanan and Raymond Sarmiento.
Kudla scored a 46 63 64 win over Arthur De Greef of Belgium, Buchanan took out Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 62 63, and Sarmiento beat Sebastian Lavie of New Zealand 75 26 61.
Third seed Bernard Tomic of Australia advanced with a 46 61 62 over Tobias Blomgren of Sweden, while unseeded Tiago Fernandes of Brazil upset seventh seed Andrea Collarini of Argentina 64 75.
Related articles:
> Collarini returns to his roots and Stephens powers through
> Former Wimbledon winners advance at US Open
> Top seeds have different luck in first round
> Babos taking inspiration from Babos success
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