Sunday 31 August 2014 22:44, UK
Fourth seed David Ferrer became the first top-10 man to go out of the US Open in a third-round loss to France's Gilles Simon on Sunday.
Ferrer, whose relentlessness is legendary, struggled in hot and humid conditions in New York and went down 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-3.
A well-rested Ferrer, who reached the third round in a walkover after Australian Bernard Tomic withdrew with a hip injury, got off to a sluggish start but fought back to take the second.
But by the end of the nearly three-hour clash a distressed Ferrer was hunched over the courtside timing board between points dripping in sweat with the 26th seeded Simon finishing off the exhausted Spaniard on his third match point.
Having made 10 straight grand slam quarter-finals, the 32-year-old has now failed to get past the third round at the last two.
It was an overdue big win at a slam for the talented Simon, whose only previous appearance in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows came in 2011, when he lost to John Isner.
Ferrer said: "It was a tough match today. There is a lot of humidity, very sunny, and it was not easy for me. I was not good with my fitness. He was better."
