NEW YORK — Defending champion Marin Cilic and unseeded Roberta Vinci were the first through to the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, and both needed to go the distance against tough French resistance.
With Serena Williams and sister Venus and a host of A-list celebrities waiting in the wings along with a prime time television audience for their marquee semi-final, Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept everything on hold as the ninth-seeded Croat battled his way to a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7(3) 6-4 win over the
scrappy Frenchman.
Earlier, Italian Vinci needed a similar gritty effort to see off another player from France, Kristina Mladenovic, 6-3 5-7 6-4 on another sizzling hot day at Flushing Meadows.