Sunday's opening match featured #2 Ash Barty against #18 Wang Qiang, a match which seemed to revolve around the Aussie's inability to clean up her game long enough to get the best out of it. But while her 39 errors were surely decisive in the final result, perhaps the bigger stat on the day was Barty's 0-for-9 mark in BP attempts on Wang's serve. She had her chances, but Wang's deep shots kept her pinned behind the baseline most of the day, and her belated attempts to move forward to be more aggressive were ultimately undone by her own devices. Wang's 6-4/6-4 victory advances her into her first career slam quarterfinal, making her the third Chinese woman reach the Final 8 at Flushing Meadows.
New territory ??
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2019
????Wang Qiang took out No. 2 seed Ashleigh Barty in straight sets to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal!
??: https://t.co/kQ6y3OQtxy #USOpen pic.twitter.com/5KWVZwNejo
While the U.S. Open was Hall of Famer Li Na's *worst* slam (17 match wins, just two less than at Wimbledon, but Li *did* post a SF in her final appearance in New York in '13), countrywoman Wang has posted her *best* slam results in New York. Not only does this result break new ground for her in a major, but her career 9 wins in the tournament easy outdistance her results in the other three slam event (10 wins combined). No matter what happens next week for Wang, she can at least say that she's gotten something of a head start on her string of fall defenses, as she reached finals in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the '18 4th Quarter (winning in the former) and played in the Elite Trophy final (losing to Barty, actually) as she climbed into the Top 20 for the first time.
Barty ends her slam season with a tour-best 17-3 mark (QF-W-4r-4r). The Aussie had 14 total MD match wins in majors in her career prior to 2019.
#16 Johanna Konta prevailed in three sets over #3 Karolina Pliskova, 6-7(1)/6-3/7-5 to reach her first U.S. Open quarterfinal and complete her "Career QF Slam." She's the first British woman to reach the Final 8 in New York since Jo Durie in 1983.
This result is something of a return to Konta's roots, as hard court was where she had her initial real tour-level success, reaching her first four career finals on the surface in 2016-17. She's still not won a WTA title away from hard courts, winning three (including Miami in '17) before her more recent grass and clay success.
This run should finally make coach Dimitri Zavialoff secure (well, one would *think*... with Konta, one never knows). Showing what the *right* change and a little coaching stability can bring, Konta has produced SF-QF-QF results in her last three majors after a hugely disappointing 1r-2r-1r-2r-1r-2r run after her 2017 Wimbledon semifinal finish. Before Zavialoff came aboard, Konta had briefly installed four others in the position over a span from 2016-18.
If one didn't know any better they might think that other players are going to look at her season and it'll lead to even *more* coaching changes this offseason than usual. I mean, if that's even possible.
In the day session's final women's Round of 16 match, #8 Serena Williams advanced to her 52nd career slam quarterfinal, overcoming a game #22-seeded Petra Martic (who got a break in Williams' first service game after Serena had led 40/love) to win 6-3/6-4. Williams had to save a BP when serving for the 1st set, then settled in while hitting 38 winners on the day.
Serena has now reached the QF in her last eleven appearances at Flushing Meadows, having last failed to do so in 2006.
**WTA "CAREER QF SLAM" - active**
[with slam at which completed]
Azarenka - 2012 US (28th)
Cibulkova - 2014 AO (26th)
Halep - 2015 US (22nd)
Kerber - 2016 AO (33rd)
Keys - 2018 RG (23rd)
Konta - 2019 US (24th)
Kuznetsova - 2006 RG (16th)
Kvitova - 2015 US (30th)
Pavlyuchenkova - 2017 AO (37th)
Sharapova - 2005 US (12th)
Stephens - 2018 RG (25th)
S.Williams - 2001 RG (12th)
V.Williams - 1998 WI (6th)
Zvonareva - 2010 US (31st)
...in doubles, the "McCoco" phenomenon picked up steam today, as Coco Gauff & Caty McNally upset #9 seed Nicole Melichar & Kveta Peschke, 6-3/7-6(9). Next up: Azarenka/Barty. Oh my.
????Doubles ????@CocoGauff ???? @CatyMcNally#USOpen pic.twitter.com/GA5HDcfiv3
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2019
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Anastasija Sevastova knocked off the #7-seeded Chan sisters.
...in junior action, #1-seeded Emma Navarro (USA) defeated Wong Hong Yi Cody (HKG) 6-0/6-3, while #11 Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) fell to Hordette Daria Frayman. Wild card Bannerette Katrina Scott upset #10 Anna Charaeva of Russia.
2019 Wimbledon juniors champ 17 y/o Daria Snigur???? wins her 3d ITF title this season ??????
— Ukrainian Tennis | BTU.ORG.UA (@UkrainianTennis) September 1, 2019
def. 21 y/o Maia Lumsden???? 6-1, 6-4 [Kiryat Shmona W25]
??: ITA#tennis #ITF #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/DD4L6fnrJp
...on the ITF circuit, Wimbledon girls champ Daria Snigur defeated Brit Maia Lumsden 6-1/6-4 to win the $25K Kiryat Shmona title in Isreal, improving the 17-year old Ukrainian's career pro final record to 4-0 (all since last November). In Penza, Russia it was Vitalia Diatchenko winning a her sixth ITF crown of '19, defeating fellow Hordette Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4/6-1 in the Penza, Russia $25K challenger. Aussie Seone Mendez also won season title #6 with a three-set victory over Swiss Karin Kennell in the Tabarka, Tunisia $15K.
...meanwhile, the same week the Marjolein Buis was given her career walking papers one year in advance for, essentially, not being "wheelchair-y" enough (or so it seems), and soon after Anna Tatishvili was fined and accused of tanking in Paris after returning from injury and losing in the 1st Round (a decision that was reversed, it should be noted), longtime tour veteran Carla Suarez-Navarro suffered the fate following her retirement (back injury) vs. Timea Babos after losing a 6-2 1st set. She has officially appealed the action.
Carla Suarez Navarro To Appeal Controversial US Open Fine https://t.co/OnrDKm7g1W pic.twitter.com/3aprgvw1Po
— Ubitennis (@Ubitennis) September 1, 2019
Please share: Translation of the official communication of @CarlaSuarezNava in response to her $40.000 fine during this years @usopen Carla in the 15 years has been a true professional with high ethical standards. pic.twitter.com/3eRRNruw7t
— Sven Groeneveld ?? (@sventennis) September 1, 2019
Was CSN playing with an injury? Yes. But so any number of players. Is there any reason to think she didn't come to the court with the intention of giving whatever she had, and hoping she could complete the match? Nope. Her history of being a warrior on court should play in her favor and allow her the benefit of the doubt, rather than be totally disregarded. Was Serena fined for retiring so soon in the Toronto final? Of course not, because (other than being Serena, which would have kicked off a holy war had *she* been fined) she did try as best she could, but soon realized that the smart decision was to only go so far.
What I'd like to know is this: if people are going to suddenly read players' minds and hold them to such a high standard, then fine them willy-nilly for not living up to expectations, what of players who reach rounds deeper in the tournament and then essentially "fail to show up" in those matches? We've all seen *those* sort of performances, right? In fact, if so, can we also go back in time and retroactively fine a few past Open finalists for "only being there to pick up a check," too? Asking for a friend.
Ridiculous? Of course. But not much more than this new practice, which is completely demolishing the intent of the new rule, which was intended to prevent injured players with no intention of competing from doing exactly what Tatishvili and Suarez-Navarro have been wrongly being accused of, thereby depriving other players from taking their spots in the draw. Naturally, of course, the rule is now being wielded as a weapon by nit-pickers to try to sully the reputations of more "name" players (surely in the case of CSN, who has noted that she's rarely ever retired from matches in her career) in order to justify the decision-makers' reason for existing.
Gee, this sounds a whole lot like the drug testing policy, doesn't it? Ding-ding-ding.
LIKE ON DAY 7:
So many decades. So many titles. It was bound to happen.
LIKE ON DAY 7:
Dana Mathewson won doubles Gold (w/ Emmy Kaiser) and singles Bronze at the Parapan American Games in Lima. Next stop: Flushing Meadows (as a wild card).
Colombia's Angelica Bernal defeated Chilean Macarena Cabrillana for the singles Gold.
A golden day for Colombia and Argentina ????????
— ITF (@ITF_Tennis) August 30, 2019
At the #Lima2019 Parapan American Games, top seeds Angelica Bernal, @gustifernandez4 and Agustin Ledesma struck gold
?? https://t.co/I2PIjeoy17 pic.twitter.com/94qS3PmjOx
DISLIKE ON DAY 7:
Meanwhile, the final trip to New York for the U.S. Open begins...
Of course, this "WTA Theme Song" thing *has* to include some Cyndi Lauper selections, right? This was a pretty easy set of songs to grab, with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" addressing one subset of the WTA tour, and "Time After Time" potentially playing to those on the other end of the experience spectrum.
In reverse order...
...the Australian version of "60 Minutes" has some really good segments that can be found on YouTube. Here's one from last year on Lauper...
#1 Naomi Osaka/JPN [DC] vs. #13 Belinda Bencic/SUI
#23 Donna Vekic/CRO vs. #26 Julia Goerges/GER
(Q) Taylor Townsend/USA vs. #15 Bianca Andreescu/CAN
(WC) Kristie Ahn/USA vs. #25 Elise Mertens/BEL
#5 Elina Svitolina/UKR vs. #10 Madison Keys/USA
#16 Johanna Konta/GBR def. #3 Karolina Pliskova/CZE
#8 Serena Williams/USA def. #22 Petra Martic/CRO
#18 Wang Qiang/CHN def. #2 Ash Barty/AUS
*WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA) vs. Kalinskaya/Putintseva (RUS/KAZ)
(WC) Gauff/McNally (USA/USA) vs. #8 Azarenka/Barty [DC] (BLR/AUS)
#3 Dabrowski/Xu (CAN/CHN) def. Friedsam/Siegemund (GER/GER)
Kuzmova/Sasnovich (SVK/BLR) def. Collins/Perez (USA/AUS)
Pavyluchenkova/Sevastova (RUS/LAT) vs. #12 Duan/Sai.Zheng (CHN/CHN)
#4 Mertens/Sabalenka (BEL/BLR) def. Golubic/Sorribes Tormo (SUI/ESP)
(PR) Dolehide/King (USA/USA) def. Guarachi/Pera (CHI/USA)
#14 L.Kichenok/Ostapenko (UKR/LAT) vs. #2 Hsieh/Strycova (TPE/CZE)
*MIXED DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 H.Chan/Venus (TPE/NZL) def. Krawczyk/Salisbury (USA/GBR)
#8 Peschke/Koolhof (USA/NED) def. Duan/Demoliner (CHN/BRA)
#4 L.Chan/Dodig (TPE/CRO) def. Olaru/Skugor (ROU/CRO)
Spears/Bopanna (USA/IND) vs. Atawo/Martin (USA/FRA)
#6 Schuurs/Kontinen (NED/FIN) def. (WC) Brady/Kudla (USA/USA)
Flipkens/Roger-Vasselin (BEL/FRA) vs. #3 Stosur/Ram (AUS/USA)
#5 Melichar/Soares (USA/BRA) vs. (WC) Mattek-Sands/J.Murray (USA/GBR) [DC]
(WC) Carter/Withrow (USA/USA) vs. #2 Dabrowski/Pavic (CAN/CRO)
JAN: Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke, USA/CZE
AO: Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai, AUS/CHN
FEB/MAR: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
I.W./MIAMI: Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
1Q: Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
APR: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA
MAY: Victoria Azarenka/Ash Barty, BLR/AUS
RG: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA
2Q Clay Court: Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA
JUN: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
WI: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
2Q Grass Court: Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
JUL/AUG: Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke, USA/CZE
AUG (pre-U.S.): Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
[2019 Weekly DOUBLES STAR Award Wins]
4 - Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova, TPE/CZE
3 - Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic, HUN/FRA
3 - Chan Hao-ching/Latisha Chan, TPE/TPE
3 - Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka, BEL/BLR
2 - Latisha Chan, TPE
2 - Gaby Dabrowski, CAN
2 - Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan, CAN/CHN
2 - Kirsten Flipkens/Johanna Larsson, BEL/SWE
2 - Nicole Melichar/Kveta Peschke, USA/CZE
2 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
**BACKSPIN 2019 WTA "DOWN" WINNERS**
JAN: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS and Alona Ostapenko/LAT
AO: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
FEB/MAR: BEL Fed Cup and CZE Fed Cup
I.W./MIAMI: Sloane Stephens/USA
1Q: Dasha Kasatkina/RUS
APR: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
MAY: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
RG: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
2Q Clay Court: Alona Ostapenko/LAT
JUN: Elina Svitolina/UKR
WI: Angelique Kerber/GER
2Q Grass Court: Angelique Kerber/GER
JUL/AUG: Madison Keys/USA
AUG (pre-U.S.): Angelique Kerber/GER
[2019 Weekly DOWN Award Wins]
7 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT
4 - Julia Goerges, GER
4 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
4 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
4 - Sloane Stephens, USA
4 - Elina Svitolina, UKR
3 - Kiki Bertens, NED
2 - Caroline Garcia, FRA
2 - Angelique Kerber, GER
2 - Madison Keys, USA
2 - Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
2 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Demi Schuurs, NED
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #10 Madison Keys/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Isabella Shinikova/BUL def. Sachia Vickery/USA 6-1/4-6/7-6(6) - Shinikova MTO down MP at 6-5 in 3rd set TB, then comes back and wins 3 con. pts. to advance. Shinikova limps to net for her handshake, then Vickery airs out her frustrations on Twitter after the leaves the court.
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - (Q) Taylor Townsend/USA def. #4 Simona Halep/ROU 2-6/6-3/7-6(4)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: Nominee: 1st Rd. - #8 S.Williams d. (WC) McNally - 17-year old takes Williams to three sets in Ashe debut
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Ana Bogdan/ROU (def. Dart/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (1st Rd. - lost to Jabeur/TUN)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: United States
NATION OF POOR SOULS: ESP (1-4 in 1st Rd.; seeded Muguruza and CSN/ret. out)
CRASH & BURN: #11 Sloane Stephens/USA (1st Rd. - '17 champ lost to qualifier A.Kalinskaya on Ashe for first career slam MD win)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominees: Townsend (2nd Rd. - 1 MP vs. Halep), Goerges (1st Rd. - 1 MP vs. Vikhlyantseva)
IT ("??"): Nominees: Andreescu, "McCoco"
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Q.Wang, Konta, Andreescu
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Taylor Townsend/USA (in 4th Rd.) (LL: Flipkens-2nd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Kristie Ahn/USA (in 4th Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: In 4th Rd.: Ahn, Keys, Townsend, S.Williams(W)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Taylor Townsend/USA
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Nominee: S.Williams
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Kristie Ahn/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: "Call Me Coco" summer preview show
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: S.Williams (2-0)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
