Former champion Juan Martin del Potro became the lowest ranked player in 25 years to reach the US Open quarterfinals when Dominic Thiem quit their last-16 tie through injury on Monday.
The 142nd-ranked Argentine was leading 6-3, 3-2 when the eighth-seeded Austrian retired with a right knee injury having received a medical timeout just moments earlier.
Del Potro, the 2009 champion who was pushed to the brink of retirement earlier this year after undergoing three surgeries on his left wrist, will face either Stan Wawrinka or Illya Marchenko for a semi-final place.
Jimmy Connors was ranked 174 when he went on to the US Open semifinals in 1991.
“You never want to win a match like this. I wish Dominic a quick recovery as he has a great future,” said 27-year-old del Potro.
The giant Argentine had required treatment himself on a right shoulder injury after dropping serve to go 2-1 down in the first set.
But he recovered to break back for 3-3 before edging ahead at 5-3 and taking the opener on an ace.
However, Kyle Edmund’s run at the US Open came to an end as world number one Novak Djokovic showed he is back to his best with a 6-2 6-1 6-4 fourth-round win.
World number 84 Edmund, 21, defeated two seeds to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time.
But the Briton was outclassed from the start by defending champion Djokovic.
Edmund’s defeat means Andy Murray is the last Briton left in the singles, while Djokovic goes on to face France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight.
Djokovic showed no signs of being rusty despite only completing six games in the past two rounds because of injuries to Jiri Vesely and Mikhail Youzhny.
The 29-year-old Serb needed treatment during the third set as the trouble he had with his upper arm in the first round flared up again.s
But he came through unscathed to ensure his quest for a 13th Grand Slam title and third this year remains on track.
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