Djokovic advances, Thiem out, Serena claws out victory

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (AFP): World number one Novak Djokovic battled through neck pain on the way to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 victory over RicardasBerankis at the Western & Southern Open, where second seed Dominic Thiem crashed out.

Djokovic, who pulled out of doubles with a sore neck on Sunday, made it through to the round of 16 despite the ailment, for which he received treatment on court.

That's good news with the US Open starting on August 31 on the same New York hardcourts hosting this week's tournament, which was moved from Cincinnati to establish a quarantine bubble for the upcoming Grand Slam.

Djokovic twice went down a break in the second set, but broke back both times. He let out a roar when he broke for a 5-4 lead then calmly served it out.

He next faces American TennysSandgren, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) winner over 15th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The upset of the day was at the opposite end of the men's draw, as 32nd-ranked FilipKrajinovic of Serbia toppled Austria's Thiem 6-2, 6-1.

Thiem, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in an Australian Open runner-up finish in January, couldn't find his rhythm in his first match since the ATP tour resumed after a five-month coronavirus hiatus.

Krajinovic lined up a meeting with Hungarian MartonFucsovics, who ousted 14th-seeded Bulgarian GrigorDimitrov 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

Former world number one Andy Murray also notched an upset, surprising world number seven Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 for his first win over a top-10 player in more than three years.

The Scot was facing defeat when Zverev served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but reeled off three straight games to seal the win.

In women's action, third-seeded Serena Williams bucked the upset trend that saw top seed Karolina Pliskova and number two Sofia Kenin ousted on Sunday.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion battled back from the brink against Dutch qualifier ArantxaRus, dominating a third-set to win 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/0).