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Tuesday, August 28, 2018

US.2 - It Thunders in New York City, Too

Louis Armstrong Stadium got this U.S. Open off to a thunderous start on Day 1. Today, Latvian Thunder had her say in the new digs.



Like so many known slam contenders, Alona Ostapenko arrived at Flushing Meadows with very little momentum garnered via actual match wins. The 21-year old was 0-2 on summer hard courts following her Wimbledon semifinal run, falling in three sets to both Johanna Konta and Alize Cornet. As she sometimes (well, often) is during her matches, the '17 Roland Garros champ is a true wild card, equally capable of brilliance as frustration depending on the angle of the sun and the migration patterns of any number of flocks of birds. Along with her SW19 semi run, this season Ostapenko has starred in Fed Cup play, won a doubles title and reached the Miami final, but was also bounced in the 1st Round of her RG title defense by Kateryna Kozlova, lost to Cagla Buyukakcay in her '18 FC debut and suffered seven other one-and-out weeks on tour. Still, she's a Top 10 player capable of defeating anyone, though she's yet to make a real run at a hard court major in her career. Her three consecutive 3rd Round results in Melbourne and New York the last two seasons amount to her (so far) high water mark in both the Australian and U.S. Opens.

Facing Latvian Thunder on Tuesday was none other the Petko herself, Andrea Petkovic, a fan favorite and deep-thinking German whose career-full of injuries has almost overshadowed the fact that she was once a Top 10 player and slam semifinalist ('14 RG), reaching her height when Ostapenko was all of 13 years old, reaching three slam QF in '11 and posting seven of her twelve career Top 10 wins that season, including a victory over then-#1 Caroline Wozniacki. Perhaps telling her story with one fact, it's of great note that after having her career year Petkovic missed the first three slams of '12 due to injury. 2018, though, has seen the 30-year old Petkovic a little healthier, and a bit more of a consistent threat to win (at at least compete), though she's been overshadowed by compatriots Angelique Kerber (Wimbledon champ) and Julia Goerges (Top 10 and Wimbledon SF). After being outside the Top 100 as recently as late May, when she chose to play in a $100K challenger, the now #89-ranked player recorded a 1st Round win at Roland Garros over Kristina Mladenovic, and her defeat of #3 Sloane Stephens in Washington was her first Top 10 victory since 2016, the first over a Top 5 player since 2013. With MD wins at each of the first three slams this season, a win from Petkovic today would give her her first four-for-four major season since her career year of '11.

The match was streaky in nature right from the start. Petkovic won the first five points, including a love break of Ostapenko's serve in game #1, until the German hit a double-fault. The Latvian then broke back and won four straight points of her own. Still, Ostapenko dropped her first six service points in the match. When Petkovic broke to take a 3-2 lead, Ostapenko's frustration bubbled just under the surface. By game #6, she'd already committed twelve unforced errors.

But she found her groove and, as is the law with the Thunder, it was difficut for her opponent to keep up with her when she did.

Ostapenko broke the German's serve and held her own to take a 4-3 lead. Up love/40 on Petko's serve in game #9, she was gifted a DF to deliver the 1st set to her at 6-4. Her twenty UE in the set were offset by her nine well-timed winners.

The Latvian led 3-0 in in 2nd set, and had break point for 4-0. But after she failed to convert the opportunity, her rising UE total spelled her doom in the set. As that was playing out, a fired-up Petkovic blazed back into contention. With a BP at 4-4, the German absolutely crushed a second serve return for a winner into the corner to get the chance to serve for the set. With the game knotted at 30/30, one final surge did the trick as Petko took the set with an ace.



Again, Ostapenko held an early lead in the 3rd. Up 2-0, she dropped serve in game #3, but broke back and held for a 4-1 advantage. She served for the match (into the sun) at 5-3, and held two match points. Petkovic's defense, though, extended rallies and, as it turned out, the match, as well. MP #2 was saved when a Petko forehand bounced off the tape, caught a line, and resulted in a mistimed Ostapenko forehand into the net. The Latvian then DF'd and, BP down, saw another forehand error hand a break of serve to Petkovic, who pounded her chest as she stalked toward the changeover area with the score at 5-4.

Petkovic held at 15 to level the set, as Ostapenko's UE total edged near sixty for the match. But just when it appeared as if the German might provide Armstrong with another day-opening upset, the Latvian's thunder emerged. She fell behind 15/30 in game #11, and saved two BP, but managed to hold for a 6-5 lead. With Petko serving to stay in the match, the score was 30/30 a game later. On game point, the German double-faulted. On a second GP, Ostapenko ended a rally previously defined by Petkovic's defense with a swing volley winner to drown out what would be her final chance to stay in the match.

A point later, Petkovic pulled up her racket on an Ostapenko ball near the baseline, then immediately challenged the call of the shot which had been declared in. When the replay showed that it had indeed caught the line -- by, it seemed, maybe the newly-ruffled fuzz of the ball -- Ostapenko had her third MP. Petko saved it with a service winner, but a running crosscourt forehand winner from the Latvian gave her a fourth MP. When the German netted her reply to Ostapenko's backhand return, it was over. Latvian Thunder's 6-4/4-6/7-5 victory, accomplished in nearly 2:30 on the hottest day (so far) of this U.S. Open, leaves Ostapenko as the survivor in a match that, theoretically sort of had *two* winners.



Petkovic's brushing aside of a handshake in favor of a big hug of her younger opponent not only showed the level of competition in the match, as well as her own fighting spirit, but was also something of a new different look for Ostapenko, too. I'm not sure I can remember such a warm embrace at the net between her and an opponent. It was actually kind of nice. At any rate, right on schedule, Ostapenko's fight has returned in the nick of time for some more big stage heroics.

As it turns out, it Thunders in New York City, too.



=DAY 2 NOTES=
...#5 seed Petra Kvitova likely smiled when she first saw that she was scheduled for an early match today on Court 17. All the better for her to avoid the sort of oppressive afternoon heat and humidity that has taken her down in the past on days just like today.

The Czech got out quickly vs. Yanina Wickmayer, winning the first three games and taking the 1st set 6-1. The Belgian jumped to a 4-1 lead in the 2nd, but Kvitova closed as well as she started. Serving for the match at 5-4, she saved a BP and finished off the match a little short of half past noon in New York.



Kvitova's sound "Player of the Year" argument, given new life with Simona Halep's 1st Round loss, may hinge on what she does at this slam. While she's 42-8 with five singles titles on the "regular" tour and in Fed Cup, the Czech (even with today's win) is still just 3-3 in the majors in 2018. Oddly enough, though the immediate notion regarding Kvitova is that she has *less* of a chance of success in NYC because of the weather and her long-time issues when it comes to dealing with it, the U.S. Open has actually been her *best* slam in recent years. She's posted QF-4th-QF results the last three years. Those are three of her four best major results since she won her last slam at Wimbledon in 2014.

...due to her winless (0-2) summer hardcourt stretch and lingering injuries, #2-seed Caroline Wozniacki has arrived in New York for what has traditionally been her *best* slam without much pressure to succeed. But, here she is, one of only two remaining women with a chance to claim multiple slam titles in 2018.

Opening Day 2's play on Ashe Stadium, the AO-winning Dane didn't have much trouble with 2011 U.S. Open champ Samantha Stosur, winning 6-3/6-2, handing the Aussie her earliest loss at Flushing Meadows since 2008. Stosur wraps up her summer HC season with a 2-5 mark, with not-unexpected defeats at the hands Caro and Aryna Sabalenka, as well as Camila Giorgi, but also to NextGen-ers Sofya Zhuk and Allie Kiick. Things are not trending in the right direction there, which is going to lead to some "those" questions pretty soon.

Although, this might be a tad harsh for a simple tweet of a match result (though it could get worse in due time)...



As for Wozniacki, she's now 11-1 in U.S. Open 1st Round matches, and has a career slam-best 36 wins in the event. A two-time finalist ('09/'14) and three-time semifinalist, she has as many SF-or-better finishes at Flushing Meadows as she does QF+ results at the other three majors combined.

...the odd journey of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova added another minor chapter on Tuesday. In 2018 the 23-year old Slovak has finally escaped her deep dive into near-irrelevance over the past two seasons, taking the Bogota crown this spring for her first tour-level title in three years. After reaching the Top 30 in 2015, she finished the last two seasons at #226 and #133, respectively. She entered the day back in the Top 100, but she was still looking for her first slam MD win since the 2015 U.S. Open.

It didn't happen today. But, as has often been the case for AKS the last few years, it was a journey getting there.

Facing Wang Yafan, Schmiedlova fell behind 6-1/3-1, only to win five straight games to send things to a 3rd. Wang had an early break lead in the 2nd, but AKS got things back on serve mid-set, only to see the Chinese woman break for 5-4 and serve out the match. While this is Wang's second career slam MD win ('16 US), Schmiedlova has lost eight straight matches in majors. She's lost in the 1st Round in thirteen of nineteen slam MD appearances.

...Israeli qualifier Julia Glushko overcame injury to post a win over Monica Niculescu, winning 3-6/7-5/6-4 to record her first slam MD win since 2014. It's been four years since Glushko, 28, even played a MD match in a major ('14 US). She lost in qualifying in nine straight slams from 2015-17 before finally making it through last week, following up on a resurgent season in which she's reached five challenger finals (3-2). She's reached slam 3rd Rounds twice ('13 US/'14 RG) in her career, and faces Naomi Osaka in her attempt to do it a third time.



...elsewhere, Taylor Townsend ('12 AO Jr. champ/'13 Wimbledon Jr. RU) won the recent Bannerette phenom vs. new Bannerette phenom match-up, prevailing 3-6/6-4/6-3 over 16-year old wild card Amanda Anisimova, last year's U.S. Open girls champ (and '16 RG jr. RU).



#24-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe, a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows last summer, had been dealing with an ankle injury coming into this Open. She arrived riding a five-match losing streak, and wasn't expected to be able to hold up for long. She didn't, falling 6-3/7-6 to Kirsten Flipkens.



Vandeweghe, inside the Top 10 in January, will emerge from this slam ranked at (at best) #47.

...Aleksandra Krunic has had a bad couple of months, but Timea Bacsinszky has had a bad year. They met on Day 2 to see which would find a crack of daylight through the skyscrapers.

Krunic won her maiden tour title on the grass as Rosmalen leading into Wimbledon, but came to New York having gone 1-5 since. She totaled just four *combined* games won in her last three losses this summer. Bacsinszky hadn't won a match since last year's Wimbledon. After undergoing wrist surgery in October, she'd gone 0-7 since her return in late January. Ranked #751, she was in the draw with a protected ranking.

Krunic, aside from her Fed Cup heroics perhaps is best known for her '14 U.S. Open Round of 16 run that included wins over Keys and Kvitova (and pushing Azarenka to three sets), ultimately outlasted the Swiss veteran, but it took some time. The Serb won the 1st set 6-2, but saw Bacsinszky force a 3rd by winning a 6-3 2nd to knot the match. Bacsinszky simply wasn't up to performing a three-set turnaround in the summer heat without a match win under her belt for fourteen months, and was noticeably tired in the closing games. The Bracelet managed to make it to the finish line with room to spare, taking the 3rd at love to record her first slam MD win since reaching the 3rd Round at Flushing Meadows last year.



...in the second-up match on Armstrong, Wimbledon champ Angelique Kerber made her '18 Open debut, looking for her first win in New York since taking the title two years ago. She got a better-than-expected level of competition from 23-year old Russian Margarita Gasparyan (and her one-handed backhand!), working her way back from a bad knee injury two summers ago and finally making progress in the endeavor in recent months. Ranked #410, the Hordette was as high as #41 in early 2016 after reaching the AO Round of 16 in just her third slam MD appearance. In a gradually-improving comeback season that has seen her reach her first post-injury singles final (a $25K in May) and play in her first tour-level event in two years (Nanchang in July, where she posted a 1st Round win), today she played just her third slam match since her Australian Open run in 2016.



She jumped to an early lead on Kerber, going up 2-0. Kerber managed to climb back and take the lead, only to see Gasparyan lift her game in closing moments and take a 6-5 lead. Things went to a TB, where the Russian held a double mini-break lead at 3-0, and 4-2. But, again, Kerber raised her *own* efforts to take the breaker 7-5. She claimed the 2nd set 6-3, passing a nice opening round test in an unfamiliar setting.



...THE breakout player of the hard court summer was undoubtedly Aryna Sabalenka. She won multiple matches from MP down, defeated four Top 10 opponents, won her maiden tour title this weekend in New Haven and made her Top 20 debut. One thing she hadn't done is win a MD match at the U.S. Open. Actually, until today she hadn't played one, falling in qualifying the last two years. Not only that, but she'd gone 0-3 in majors this season, losing previous slam 1st Rounders to Ash Barty (AO), Kiki Bertens (RG) and Mihaela Buzarnescu (WI), with both the first and last of those defeats coming in three-set matches. The big-hitting 20-year old Belarusian leads the tour in that category, having played a total of 27 (in 57 matches) over the course of this season coming into Day 2. Naturally, she added another to the total vs. Danielle Collins.

Of course, it didn't look as if that'd be the case when Sabalenka raced through the 1st set, winning it at love. But Collins turned things around to take a 5-1 lead in the 2nd, though things tightened and she only eeked out a 6-4 win. In the 3rd, Collins opened with a break, and held to lead 2-0. But Sabalenka made her bones this summer coming from behind, and she'd do it again here. She won four straight games, gave back a break in game #7, but then retrieved it in short order and served for the match at 5-3.

On MP, Sabalenka recovered to chase down a Collins lob, only to see the Bannerette put away a fading overhead as she drifted toward the baseline, planting a winner into the corner. A forehand error gave Collins a BP chance, and she got things back on serve. After Sabalenka took a love/30 lead on Collins' serve, the former two-time NCAA champ got things back to 30/30, only to see the Belarusian reach double MP with a backhand winner down the line. After having moved in toward the service box to return a second serve, Sabalenka ended the match two strokes later with an off-balance dig-out of a shot off the baseline. Her backhand reply barely made it back over the net, but it was short enough in the court to prevent Collins from chasing it down. Sabalenka, by now getting used to strong reactions to hard-fought, dramatic victories (this time she fell over onto her back in celebration ) won 6-0/4-6/6-4 to reach the U.S. Open 2nd Round for the first time.



Sabalenka's win, along with that of Aliaksandra Sasnovich (def. Bencic) maintains Belarus' undefeated mark in the women's draw at this Open. Sabalenka, Sasnovich, Victoria Azarenka and Vera Lapko make the BLR contingent four strong in the 2nd Round of a major for the very first time. I guess that means the "Revelation Ladies" winners have been found.

...yeah, Carla's worries weren't necessary.



Monica Puig, a semifinalist this weekend in New Haven before having to retire from that match after just eight games vs. CSN, showed no signs of trouble today vs. Stefanie Voegele. She won 6-0/6-0.



...as far as a few of the other usual early-round slam awards, nothing is official but Russia is sure looking like a "Nation of Poor Souls" contender. Hordettes went 1-5 on Day 1, with only Ekaterina Makarova advancing. Things haven't gotten much better on Day 2, either. There are still a few more matches to be finish, though, including Maria Sharapova vs. Patty Schnyder tonight, as well as an all-Russian clash between veteran Vera Zvonareva and youngster Anna Blinkova.

#11 Dasha Kasatkina, though she was up and down all match, managed to fight back and defeat Timea Babos 6-4/5-7/6-4 in a contest that extended into the early evening, overcoming a 3rd set break deficit and a walking-the-tightrope moment that saw the Hungarian holding a BP while up 4-3.

Other nations in the mix: Switzerland (1-3, with Schnyder to play), Great Britain (0-2), Slovakia (1-3) and Poland (0-2).

The leading contender for "Upset Queens" looks to be Sweden, with both the nation's MD participants -- Rebecca Peterson d. #27 Pavlyuchenkova, Johanna Larssson def. Cornet -- notching big wins. This one may take another round, though, as China has some intriguing possibilities as Asian Games Gold medalist Wang Qiang has already defeated #31 Rybarikova (and plays Begu) and Wang Yafan gets #5 Kvitova in the 2nd Round.


WHAT'S ELENA BEEN UP TO ON DAY 2:

Caption this.I dare ya???? @vis_caeli @alenabrillar ????#???????????

A post shared by Elena Vesnina (@vesnushka86) on



SO, THIS ON DAY 2: As a call back to Chris Evert questioning Halep's desire and believing that she isn't "hungry" after winning Roland Garros (something she returned to again today), but not mentioning how she ran herself into the ground trying to pull off the Canada/Cincinnati double (ditto), it's interesting that *before* the tournament she thought the Romanian's summer run was the reason *why* she'd be a big threat at this slam.



Being around the other ESPNers all day tends to warp one's mind, though, so maybe that's what caused this mid-stream pivot, hmmm? I'm just sayin'.

FROM DAY 1 ON DAY 2: Never a sign of good times...



LIKE ON DAY 2: Incoming...



...and, finally...

Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" has always been a song I'm happy to hear. It's made a bit of a comeback lately as the Aussie-born singer (who was actually an actor on the soap "General Hospital" when he first began to break out as a performer in the U.S.) has returned to acting, appearing with Meryl Streep in the movie "Ricki and the Flash," as well as TV's "American Horror Story: Cult," "Supernatural," "True Detective" and, after a 23-year absence, even "General Hospital."

[General Hospital's "Dr. Noah Drake"]
[Original - 1981]
[2016]














Round 1 @usopen ?? #pojd #teamsafi

A post shared by Lucie Safarova (@lucie.safarova) on














**U.S. OPEN "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS**
2006 Russia
2007 Ukraine
2008 Slovak Republic
2009 Belarus
2010 North America
2011 United States
2012 France
2013 Italy
2014 United States
2015 Japan
2016 Ukraine
2017 Australia
2018 Belarus
[2018]
AO: Estonia
RG: Romania
WI: Great Britain
US: Belarus

**50 YEARS OF OPEN ERA TENNIS AT THE U.S. OPEN**
[AUS Champions]
1969 Margaret Court
1970 Margaret Court
1973 Margaret Court
2011 Samantha Stosur
[AUS Finalists]
1972 Kerry Melville Reid
1973 Evonne Goolagong
1974 Evonne Goolagong
1975 Evonne Goolagong
1976 Evonne Goolagong
1977 Wendy Turnbull

**BACKSPIN 2018 RISER AWARD WINNERS**
JAN: Simona Halep/ROU
AO: Simona Halep/ROU
FEB/MAR: Elina Svitolina/UKR
I.W./MIAMI: Sloane Stephens/USA
1Q: PETRA KVITOVA/CZE
APR: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
MAY: Elina Svitolina/UKR
RG: Sloane Stephens/USA
2Q Clay Court: PETRA KVITOVA/CZE
JUN: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
WI: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
2Q Grass Court: PETRA KVITOVA/CZE
JUL/AUG: Alize Cornet/FRA
AUG: Kiki Bertens/NED
[2018 Weekly RISER Award Wins]
4 - Dasha Gavrilova, AUS
4 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
3 - Timea Babos, HUN
3 - Kiki Bertens, NED
3 - Danielle Collins, USA
3 - Diede de Groot, NED (WC)
3 - Camila Giorgi, ITA
3 - Simona Halep, ROU
3 - Yui Kamiji, JPN (WC)
3 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
3 - Garbine Muguruza, ESP
3 - Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2 - Ana Bogdan, ROU
2 - Caroline Garcia, FRA
2 - Julia Goerges, GER
2 - Madison Keys, USA
2 - Petra Martic, CRO
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
2 - Yulia Putintseva, KAZ
2 - Alison Riske, USA
2 - Aliaksandra Sasnovich, BLR
2 - Anastasija Sevastova, LAT
2 - Sloane Stephens, USA
2 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
2 - CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2 - Donna Vekic, CRO
2 - Wang Qiang, CHN

**BACKSPIN 2018 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER WINNERS**
JAN: Mihaela Buzarnescu/ROU
AO: Jana Fett/CRO
FEB/MAR: Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK
I.W./MIAMI: Danielle Collins/USA
1Q: NAOMI OSAKA/JPN
APR: Viktoria Kuzmova/SVK
MAY: Vera Lapko/BLR
RG: Wang Qiang/CHN
2Q Clay Court: VIKTORIA KUZMOVA/SVK
JUN: Sonya Kenin/USA
WI: Harriet Dart/GBR
2Q Grass Court: ALISON VAN UYTVANCK/BEL
JUL/AUG: Maria Sakkari/GRE
AUG: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR



TOP QUALIFIER: Genie Bouchard/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: #23 Marta Kostyuk/RUS def. Valentyna Ivakhnenko/RUS 4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(4) (saved 6 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP ASHE NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (Q) Jil Teichmann/SUI (def. Jakupovic/SRB)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK (1st Rd. - Q.Wang/CHN; second con. FSO at major for Rybarikova)
UPSET QUEENS: xx
REVELATION LADIES: Belarus (four -- Azarenka, Lapko, Sabalenka, Sasnovich -- into 2nd Round of a slam for the first time ever)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: xx
CRASH & BURN: #1 Simona Halep/ROU (lost 1st Rd. to Kanepi/EST; first #1 to lost 1st Rd. at U.S. Open in Open era)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: xx
IT ("??"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Bouchard/CAN, DiLorenzo/USA, J.Glushko/ISR, Kalinina/UKR, Muchova/CZE, Teichmann/SUI
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: Azarenka/BLR, C.Liu/USA
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: In 2nd Rd.: DiLorenzo, Kenin, King, C.Liu, Stephens, Townsend, S.Williams, V.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominee: Kanepi/EST (new Armstrong Stadium premieres w/ Day 1 def. of #1 Halep)
LADY OF THE EVENING: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 2. More tomorrow.
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