NEW YORK — Defending champion Marin Cilic was the first man through to the U.S. quarter-finals on Sunday, taking down determined Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 2-6 7-6(2) 6-1 to extend his Flushing Meadows win streak to 11 matches.
Coming off a punishing five-setter with Mikhail Kukushkin in a third-round match that lasted four hours, Cilic took a while to find his power game but was unstoppable once he did, the ninth seeded Croat blasting 23 aces past 27th seed Chardy, who had no answer.
"Key today was finding my rhythm on the serve, especially toward the end of the third set," said Cilic.