Rublev’s sensation, Medvedev’s confidence and Khachanov’s failure: US Open first round results

The success of Medvedev and the defeat of Sharapova

On the first day of the US Open, which started in New York, several Russian representatives took to the courts, including Daniil Medvedev, Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, not all of them managed to overcome the barrier of the first round of competitions.

Medvedev continues his triumphal march on the "hard". From the beginning of August, he reached the finals of major competitions in North America three times, and in Cincinnati he won the Masters tournament for the first time. In light of this, a meeting with the Indian Prajnash Gunnesvaran became more like a warm-up for him before more serious fights. The Russian did not leave his counterpart a single chance, winning in three sets. Moreover, a serious struggle was only in the first installment, and for the next two, Gunnesvaran managed to take only three games.

Successfully started on New York courts Ekaterina Alexandrova and Margarita Gasparyan. Both were opposed by Australian tennis players, although the first of the Russians went to the titled Samantha Stosur, and the second to young Priscilla Hon. However, both meetings ended in two sets.

For Gasparyan, this victory became a landmark, as the Russian woman for the first time in her career entered the second round of the US Open, in which she would play with Johanna Conta.

It was the British who did not let Daria Kasatkina into the second round, depriving the fans of a purely Russian confrontation in the 1/32 finals of the championship. The native of Togliatti did not act very acutely and recorded only 14 actively won draws in her assets - 2.5 times less than her rival. However, the main problem was the submission. For three games, she did not perform a single ace, making 12 double mistakes.

The current season is extremely unsuccessful for Kasatkina. Back in October 2018, she occupied the tenth line in the WTA rating and had every chance to compete for the title of the first racket of the world. But in 2019, she won only nine matches out of 25 and dropped to the 42nd line of the rating. As for the "majors," since last year's US Open, she never went further than the second round.

Could not create a sensation and Maria Sharapova. The Russian woman lost to Serena Williams without a fight, extending her losing streak in the face-to-face confrontation to 19 meetings. The last time a Russian woman beat her opponent on the court at the WTA Final tournament in 2004 (we do not take into account the technical victory at last year's Roland Garros).

Maria chalked up only two games and left the court an hour after the start of the match. She lost for the first time in her career in the first round of the US Open and for the first time in 16 years she was unable to enter the second round in two Grand Slam tournaments in a year. Because of this, Sharapova will lose at least 45 positions in the WTA ranking and will drop out of the first hundred.

Another loser of the first day of US Open was Eugene Donskoy. True, it was difficult to expect a sensation from him, because he was opposed by the 12th racket of the world Born Chorich. In the first installment, the Russian was able to endure a tie-break, but subsequently noticeably passed. In the second, he took only three games, and in the third he allowed his vis-a-vis to draw a “steering wheel”.

Departure of Khachanov and sensations from Rublev and Kalinsky

At this tournament losses among Russian tennis players did not end there. In the course of the second day, Anastasia Potapova, Veronika Kudermetova, Natalya Vikhlyantseva and Anna Blinkova sheathed their rackets, and the last two were clearly out of luck. So, the first got a strong Julia Gerges, and the second - the current champion and the first racket of the world Naomi Osaka. It is worth noting that both managed to provide serious resistance to the favorites and pick up the set, but failed to develop success.

Unexpected was the defeat of Svetlana Kuznetsova. Two weeks ago, the athlete brilliantly performed at a tournament in Cincinnati and reached the finals, but there was not enough strength at the US Open. The Russian woman lost to the mistress of the courts, Christie An, having failed to make a single break.

However, the departure of Karen Khachanov became even more sensational. In opponents, he got the 205th ATP rating number. Vasek Pospil wrote that this season has never overcome the second round barrier at major international championships, as well as having a negative balance of victories and defeats for his career (99 - 138).

The Russian confidently took the first set, but then “swam” and very soon found himself in the role of catching up. In the fourth game, Khachanov managed to return to the game: he minimized the number of unforced errors and won almost all points on the first serve. But the final batch of forces was not enough. As a result, a defeat in the first round and a repetition of the worst personal result at the US Open. Earlier, Karen only once could not overcome the starting stage - in 2017, he no less sensationally lost to Lu Yansun.

There were some pleasant surprises for Russian fans. So, Anna Kalinskaya for the first time in her career beat a representative of the top 10. It took the Russian woman only two parties and 1 hour 25 minutes to remove the famous Sloan Stevens from the road. The initiative of the compatriot was supported by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who turned out to be stronger than Pauline Parmantier.

However, the author of the main sensation of the first round was Andrei Rublev. In Cincinnati and Winston-Salem, he reached the quarter-finals and is now going to repeat his result in New York. So, even the eighth racket of the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who capitulated in four games, could not stop him.

The meeting turned out to be very equal, and the fate of the two sets was decided on tie-breaks. And the third set turned out to be the most intense, lasting 1 hour 23 minutes. As a result, the key role was played by the difference in unforced errors, which turned out to be almost double (47 versus 81). Rublev prevailed over the Greek and won a fourth victory over the top ten tennis player in his career and the third in the last two months. He had previously outplayed Dominic Tim and Roger Federer.

Federer Record and Halep Success

In addition to Tsitsipas and Stevens, a number of seeded athletes covered their rackets in the first round. In particular, Tim has once again confirmed the status of a tennis player who successfully performs exclusively on the ground. Previously, the Austrian lost in the first round of Wimbledon, and now has failed in the US Open. Fabio Fognini and Roberto Bautista-Agut also finished their speech, who were unable to cope with Riley Opelka and Mikhail Kukushkin, respectively.

At the same time, representatives of the "Big Three" did not experience any problems in the first round and only Roger Federer had to spend more than three sets on the court. The Swiss was drawn into the match with Sumit Nagal for a long time, but did not allow a sensation. This success helped him not only to enter the second round, but also to qualify for the record, 17th time at the ATP Final tournament.

Among the leaders, Kei Nishikori spent the least effort, whose rival was forced to withdraw due to injury during the second installment, and Alexander Zverev had the hardest time. Radu Albot fought for five sets, but still was forced to admit defeat.

With the exception of the loss, Stevens and Kerber in the women's tournament there were no sensations. Ashley Barty, the second racket of the world, experienced minor problems, who managed to take only one game in the first set of the match with Zarina Diyas. Simone Halep suffered a lot from Nicole Gibbs, but still managed to get into the second round for the first time since 2016. In the Belarusian derby, Arina Sobolenko prevailed over Victoria Azarenka, confirming the status of the ninth rating number.

Failure Bouchard and comeback of a 37-year-old Italian

Eugenie Bouchard continues his prolonged fall. Canada lost to Anastasia Sevastova, extending her losing streak to 12 matches. The last time she won the tournament in Dubai in February, where she prevailed over Vera Lapko. In total, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist was the strongest in six meetings and lost in 15.

Suddenly, Angelica Kerber lost. The ex-first racket of the world extended its unsuccessful series and for the third time in a row lost on the “hard”. This time she did not cope with Kristina Mladenovich, who occupies 54th place in the ranking. The German woman lost the first game, but in the second she didn’t allow her opponent to take a game. However, an overly passive game in the final set cost her tickets to the second round.

The fiasco also befell another famous representative of the men's singles tournament. For the second time in a row, Tomas Berdych was unable to overcome the barrier of the first round in the “major” and announced the possible end of his career. In four sets, he lost to 18-year-old court owner Jenson Brooksby, who made his way into the main draw through qualification.

It is noteworthy that for Brooksby this victory was the first in his career at Grand Slam tournaments. He spent his debut match in “major” at last year’s US Open, but managed to take only six games in a confrontation with John Millman.

Unlike Berdych, Paolo Lorenzi age does not interfere with success. In the first round, he broke the resistance of Zachary Svayda. It is noteworthy that the age difference between the athletes was 21 years. At the time of the meeting, the Italian was 37 years old, and his opponent - only 16.

Svayda started the match great and won the first two sets. Earlier, Lorenzi had never recouped from the score 0: 2 in batches and it might have seemed that the intrigue had faded. However, an experienced Italian managed to seize the initiative and gain the upper hand in the match - 3: 6, 6: 7, 6: 4, 7: 6, 6: 2. This battle was the longest in the first round and lasted 2 hours 24 minutes. Only two minutes less on the court were Richardas Berankis and Jiri Vesely.