Moya, Nadal eye return to quarters at U.S. Open

NEW YORK - Sep 3 : Spain's Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal of Mallorca look to return to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

As for Spain's David Ferrer, Argentina's Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela, and Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, it's foreign territory.

Seeded second, Nadal will take center stage at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Ferrer, the 15th seed.

Nadal has won three French Open singles title, but has yet to experience much success in Flushing. He reached the quarterfinals here last summer, but fell to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

After dropping his first set and complaining of an injured left knee, Nadal has regained his form, taking nine straight sets in impressive fashion. He took anti-inflammatories and showed little signs of discomfort, routing unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-1.

Ferrer, meanwhile, outlasted 24th-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to reach the U.S. Open's Round of 16 for the first time in four tries.

Moya, the 17th seed, also won in five-sets - a 4-hour, 3-minute thriller - getting by German Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 win. He will take on Gulbis, 19, who had a surprisingly easy time with Spain's Tommy Robredo, rolling in a straight-set victory. Gulbis, in his first American Grand Slam, has yet to drop a set.

Monaco gets a major test in third-ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic. Monaco was eliminated in the first round of each of his first three U.S. Opens, but has enjoyed a nice run, dropping just two sets so far.

Djokovic, though, will be quite a test.

The talented 20-year-old got by Czech Radek Stepanek - his lone challenge to date - in a five-set, second round victory, and breezed in his primetime debut at Arthur Ashe Stadium over Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

The final match will feature the 28-year-old Chela, who came from behind to top No. 12 Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, after losing to the Croat in his first seven attempts.

He will meet unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, better known as Roger Federer's practice partner. This is the first time Wawrinka has gotten past the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament.