Serena Williams of the U.S. returns a shot to Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. during their match at the U.S. Open Championships tennis tournament in New York, September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Serena Williams and Marin Cilic both survived third round scares on Friday to keep their U.S. Open title defences on track but there was no escape for Rafa Nadal with the twice-winner going down in a late night thriller.
A day of riveting high drama began in the early afternoon heat with the ninth seeded Cilic needing over four hours to put away Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 6-3 6-7(3) 6-1 and ended in the early morning hours with Italian Fabio Fognini winning a pulsating third round slugfest over Nadal 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4.
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