Medvedev's painful victory
Daniil Medvedev continues his journey through the US Open tournament bracket. His rival in the second round was the Bolivian Hugo Delin. Representatives of this South American country have not won more than two matches in Grand Slam tournaments since 1983, and the 84th racket was not able to interrupt this long series.
Medvedev began the match with a victory in two sets, but such a start was not easy for him. The tight schedule in August and the crumpled schedule of the US Open began to affect the condition of the 23-year-old tennis player. Once a Russian broke and broke a racket after falling into the net, for which he received a warning from a judge. Fortunately, this time Medvedev did not argue with the referee and continued to play calmly.
In the third set, a new disaster occurred. During the 11th game, the Russian slipped and fell. The fifth racket of the world began to suffer cramps, but the player did not take a medical timeout and continued the match. He lost that game, but managed to get together and bring the match to victory, winning a long exchange of breaks. Medvedev finished the mast with 16 aces, while Delen did not earn a single one.
“I had cramps all over my body. I sincerely do not understand how I was able to win. At some point it seemed to me: “That's it, I can’t move anymore.” I hope my condition will be normal tomorrow, ”Medvedev said after the match.
The next opponent to meet on the fifth day will be the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. He defeated the Japanese Yoshihita Nishioku in four sets. The victory will bring Medvedev closer to fourth place in the ATP ranking, but in order to achieve it immediately after the US Open, the Russian needs to get to the semifinals.
The next circle of Rublev
Andrei Rublev break into the third round was much easier. His rival Gilles Simon almost immediately after the start of the match began to experience problems with the upper back. In the course of the loss with a score of 2: 6 of the first set, the Frenchman took a medical time out, but he did not help. Simon refused to fight in the first game of the next game and allowed Rublev to go further.
The Russian will now meet with the Australian Nick Kirios, who is famous for his shocking on the court and beyond. At the US Open, he was seeded at number 28 and managed to beat Steve Johnson from the USA and Antoine Hoang from France on the way to the third round. In case of victory, Rublev will almost certainly gain a foothold in the top 40 of the ATP rating.
Mass departure of Russians
In the women's net, the Russians are not at all as fine as men. Like at the last Wimbledon, none of the girls could get to the third round. On the fourth day, four tennis players from Russia entered the court, but not one of them managed to work their way further.
Ekaterina Alexandrova had the best chance. She met with Chinese Zhang Shuai, seeded at number 33, and won the second set after losing the first in a tie-break. However, the 24-year-old Russian woman could not get together for the final segment of the game and lost with a score of 3: 6. Alexandrov made 68 unforced errors during the match - with such statistics she could not hope for success. Nevertheless, according to the results of the US Open, a native of Chelyabinsk will beat Daria Kasatkina in the WTA rating and will become the first racket of the country.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was able to create problems for the athlete from the Netherlands, Kiki Bertens. She led in the first set with a score of 5: 2 and had a setball, in the second she was also ahead of three games. But every time the seventh racket of the world managed to recoup. As a result, the Russian woman lost in two games and gave Bertens the opportunity to play with Julia Gerges in the third round.
The will to win was shown by Anna Kalinskaya. She tried to get even with the American Christie An for Svetlana Kuznetsova. The mistress of the court was significantly stronger than the 21-year-old Russian woman, but she managed to play as many as seven matchballs. Only on the eighth attempt did An manage to get a pass to the next round. For a New Jersey native, this is the first US Open in 11 years, and during that time she has not won a single victory in Grand Slam tournaments.
The last of the Russians Margarita Gasparyan suffered a crushing defeat from Johanna Conta. The British gave the opponent only one game in the first set and issued a victory in 56 minutes. Gasparyan managed to earn the only break point that she did not realize. Instead of the Russian confrontation, Gasparyan and Alexandrova, fans in the third round will see Konta's duel with Zhang Shuai.
Defeats of Halep and Kvitova
The loudest sensation on the fourth day was presented by the winner of the qualification Taylor Townsend from the United States. The 116th racket of the world beat Simone Halep, who takes fourth place in the WTA ranking. As in the previous three matches at Flushing Meadows, Townsend lost the first set. However, once again she managed to win a strong-willed victory after that.
The secret of the success of the 23-year-old American was to constantly go to the net. Townsend reduced the distance for striking 106 times and earned 64 points. Halep was never able to oppose something to the young rival. In the third set, the Romanian lost in a tie-break and finished her performance at the US Open. Townsend is now waiting for another representative of Romania, Sorana Kirsta, who also won a strong-willed victory over Alyona Bolshova from Spain.
Upset of the day?
See the highlights of the match everyone was talking about ... # USOpenpic.twitter.com/HOrMOVlT5b
Another favorite became less after the departure of Petra Kvitova. The sixth racket of the world could not cope with Andrea Petkovich from Germany. The Czech Republic is still worried about a left arm injury, and the opponent took advantage of this, trying to send the ball just for forehand. Because of this, Kvitova made a lot of mistakes and was not able to make the first pitch in half the cases. Petkovich won with a score of 6: 4, 6: 4 and sent Kvitov to heal a sore arm.
Goff Climb
15-year-old American Coco Goff conquers the world of women's tennis again. After a successful performance at Wimbledon, when she managed to get to the fourth round, she also swiftly storms the Grand Slam home tournament. In the second round, Goff beat the Hungarian Timey Babosh, who specializes in doubles, but this time made her way into the single net through the qualification.
Rivals spent on the court two and a half hours. Goff hit Babosh with her serve - the American made nine aces and made a mistake on the first serve only once out of six. If not for the experience of Timaeus, the meeting could have ended much earlier, but it stretched out over three sets. Having made a break at the score 5: 4 in the third set, Goff reached the third round of her debut US Open, becoming the youngest participant in this stage since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
Goff has already come close to the first hundred of the WTA rating, but it will be very difficult for her to be inside the cherished list. The next rival will be the first racket of the world and the current US Open champion Naomi Osaka. The Japanese after a difficult victory over Anna Blinkova beat the Polish girl Magda Lynette.
Smaller sensations
Men's matches of the fourth day as a whole did not bring big surprises, except for the departure of several tennis players with the latest seeding numbers. The most disappointing defeat suffered the Frenchman Benoit Peer. He beat the first two sets against the Slovenian Alyazh Beden, one of which in a tie-break, but then missed the victory. For the whole match, he made 99 unforced errors, that is, with his own hands he gave the opponent almost 25 games. Interestingly, after the game, Peer did not shake Bedena’s hand, citing the insult he allegedly heard from the Slovenian after the second set.
Five Set Feels 💪💪 @ AljazBedene comes back from the brink, defeating Paire 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 to reach R3 ... # USOpenpic.twitter.com/aHrLreRG9f
- US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 29, 2019Tennis fans could not even be seen in the case of Rafael Nadal. He was supposed to meet with the Australian Tanashi Kokkinakis, but the opponent did not go to court due to a shoulder injury. Then the Spaniard will meet not with compatriot Fernando Verdasco, but with the South Korean Chun Hyun. The qualification winner was inferior after the first two sets, but was still able to break the resistance of the 32nd racket of the tournament.
1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 @ HyeonChung comes back from the brink, saving a match point en route to defeating Verdasco!
Next up: Nadal in R3 ... # USOpenpic.twitter.com/Bxdb2BUWu8
Five-set match Zvereva
The most intriguing match of the day was the meeting of Francis Tiafo and Alexander Zverev. They met at Grand Slam tournaments for the third time in their short career. The American tennis player had a great chance to take double revenge for past failures, but the German representative remained in the fight for the title.
Zverev won all the odd games, and Tiafo immediately answered that. The German tennis player won four five-set matches this season, so when the 21-year-old American equalized for the second time, it was Zverev who had a better chance of winning. In addition, on this day he had a great serve - with 22 aces the German tennis player squeezed an opponent and went into the third round, where he will meet with Bedene.
6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Another five setter for the No. 6 seed as he defeats Tiafoe to reach R3! @AlexZverev | # USOpenpic.twitter.com / 9ne1hqBpv4