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Thursday, September 3, 2026

US.5- Hit Her with Your Best Shot


Hit with her opponent's best shot, "New Madi" re-appeared on Day 5.










=DAY 5 NOTES=
...every once in a while, Madison Keys will find that dawg in her. On Thursday, she took Anna Bondar's best shot -- five times, in fact -- and lived on at this major to tell the tale.



Of course, it took the #22 seed first losing out in a 1st set vs. Bondar in which Keys had managed to overcome a 4-2 deficit, only to then drop serve again to fall behind 6-5 before the Hungarian served out the set a game later.

Come the 3rd, Bondar seemed about to punt the '17 U.S. finalist and '25 AO winner out of her home slam, leading 5-2 and holding a pair of MP on serve, then three more on return (including two from 15/40) in the next game. Keys saved them all then, with her time in the draw walking a proverbial tightrope, denied Bondar again when she served for the match at 5-4. Keys broke at love.

Two holds later and it all came down to a match TB, where again Keys fell behind. Bondar got half-way to the victory, leading 5-3, only to see Keys sweep the final seven points to take the breaker 10-3, winning 5-7/6-4/7-6(10-5).



Keys remains, along with Aryna Sabalenka, on track to be the only two women to reach the second week (4r) at all four majors in 2026. Keys has never done it before, while Sabalenka has reached at least the Round of 16 in her last 15 slam appearances(and 18/19).

...meanwhile, Thursday's other daytime action saw more big names pass through to the next round with various levels of difficulty.



2022 champion Iga Swiatek found herself on the low end of the difficulty scale, winning 6-3/6-2 over Nadia Podoroska to reach her 27th consecutive 3rd Round at a major (the longest active streak in pro tennis) and improved to 12-1 this hard court summer.



Last year's runner-up, #10 Amanda Anisimova was tested by Austrian teen Lilli Tagger, fresh from her maiden slam MD win (where she nearly blew a 6-0/4-0 lead, only to end w/ a six-point flourish to win in two sets). After Anisimova took the opener, Tagger rebounded to take the 2nd set and force a decider, but the Bannerette quickly reestablished herself to win 6-3/3-6/6-1.

Anisimova has now reached the 3rd Round in seven straight majors (she'd combined for *eight* such finishes from 2017 through early '25).



Also advancing in short order was #5 Mirra Andreeva, via a love & 2 win over Eva Lys; while #4 Coco Gauff battled her way past her persistent nemesis, Paula Badosa, winning 6-4/7-6(5) under the lights on Ashe.

Badosa had won five of their previous eight match-ups, including big-event wins in Indian Wells (2021), Madrid (2023) and the Australian Open (2025).



The last of the four players vying for #1 (she needs to reach the SF, or hope that Gauff, Pegula or Sabalenka don't win the title) to play her 2nd Round match, and in fact the very last women's 2nd Round match at all, #2 Elena Rybakina closed out the night on Armstrong against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, winning 6-2/6-4 to improve to 9-0 in hard court majors in 2026.



You know, I just realized something with that graphic: the four-way battle between the would-be #1 players is also a four-way contest amongst sponsors: Nike (Sabalenka), Yonex (Rybakina), Adidas (Pegula) and New Balance (Gauff).

...meanwhile, Cristina Bucsa's sudden resurgence continued on Thursday, but it took quite the effort. As in *three* tie-breaks vs. qualifier Himeno Sakatsume.

Pretty much a non-factor *anywhere* in singles since her Merida title run earlier this year, Bucsa is defending Round of 16 points from last year's U.S. Open. She stunned #28 Sara Bejlek in three sets in the 1st Round, but found even more resistence today vs. her Japanese opponent.

Bucsa failed to serve out the 1st set, but rallied from 5-4 down in the TB to win 8-6. Sakatsume's 7-0 TB win in the 2nd sent things to a decider, where again Bucsa gained and lost a scoreboard edge.

Serving up 5-4, the Spaniard couldn't put away either of two MP chances as Sakatsume stayed alive with a break on her fifth opportunity in the game. Bucsa served for the match again at 6-5, but dropped serve once more as things went to a deciding match tie-break. The two were tied up a 3-3, but Bucsa managed to pull through with a 10-6 win.



With her second win this year in New York, Bucsa is now just 5-15 outside of her undefeated 6-0 spurt to her maiden tour title in March.

...and, last but not least, the next obstacle directly in the path of Rybakina will not be #32 Maria Sakkari, but instead Yuliia Starodubtseva.

In a U.S. Open women's competition that has almost stubbornly held to form, with only #12 Belinda Bencic falling in the top nineteen seeds, and 26 of the 32 seeded players advancing into the 32-player field in the 3rd Round, we very nearly had an enitre 2nd Round be played without a single seed falling. I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't in any way remember the last time it did.

Well, whenever it was, it remains a rare event, as Sakkari -- the lowest-ranked of the seeds -- was the lone "L" in a 26-1 collective 2nd Round mark over the last two days. But she came within a point -- three times -- of making it 27-0.

The Greek came back from 4-1 down in the 2nd to serve for the match at 5-4, holding three MP before Starodubtseva got the break on her third BP of the game. Things went to a TB, where the Ukrainian raced to a quick 4-0 lead and won it 7-4. She then took the 3rd at 6-2 to send Sakkari out, reaching her second major 3rd Round (w/ RG) this season.









...MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE (i.e. ushering Oliynykova out of an event)... ON DAY 5:





...THE WTA IS OVERPOPULATED BY "DOG MOMS," BUT THEN THERE'S "Iga with a Lego set"... ON DAY 5:





...OUR, hmm, *TRI*-ANNUAL REMINDER OF WHAT KEYS *CAN* DO... ON DAY 5:




Of course, that she was down FIVE MATCH POINTS to Anna Bondar is also one of the annual half dozen or so reminders that Keys only on random occasions actually gets the most out of her overall ability, too.


...Hmmm, MAYBE SECURITY COULD GLUE THEIR PHONES TO THE FLOOR?... ON DAY 5:





...MEANWHILE, LURKING AROUND THE CORNER (vs. Iga in 4r?)... ON DAY 5:





...ESPN's RELENTLESS SHILLING OF, well, ESPN ENTITIES GETS TIRESOME... but this one is actually worthwhile... ON DAY 5:














Pat Benatar (1980)




Pat Benatar (2026)












Citizens Savings Bank 41












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"It was really hard to play here, and to put the ball in the court." --Karolina Muchova Imagine--if it had been easy........🙂 #USOpen #WTA

— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) September 2, 2026 at 4:32 PM












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*US26 3rd ROUND NOTES*
[NATIONS IN 3rd Rd.; AO:17, RG:18, WI:18, US:17]
8 - USA
4 - CZE
4 - RUS
3 - UKR
1 - 13 nations

[32-PLAYER BREAKDOWN]
#1-10 SEEDS: 10
#11-20 SEEDS: 8
#21-32 SEEDS: 8
UNSEEDED: 5
QUALIFIERS: 1
WILD CARDS: 0
PROTECTED RANKING SPOT: 0

[FIRST-TIME MAJOR 3rd Rd. in 2026]
AO: Bartunkova(1st MD), Jovic(6), Selekhmeteva(5), Valentova(3)
RG: Chwalinska(3), Korpatsch(12), Oliynykova(2)
WI: Eala(6), Liu(21), Sawangkaew(2), Snigur(6)
US: none

[IN 3rd Rd. AT ALL FOUR 2026 MAJORS- 9]
Amanda Anisimova, USA
Coco Gauff, USA
Iva Jovic, USA
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS
Madison Keys, USA
Karolina Muchova, CZE
Naomi Osaka, JPN
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Iga Swiatek, POL

[REPEATS FROM 2026 U.S. OPEN 3rd Rd. - 20]
Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Amanda Anisimova, USA
Cristina Bucsa, ESP
Leylah Fernandez, CAN
Coco Gauff, USA
Anna Kalinskaya, RUS
Marta Kostyuk, UKR
Ann Li, USA
Elise Mertens, BEL
Karolina Muchova, CZE
Emma Navarro, USA
Linda Noskova, CZE
Naomi Osaka, JPN
Jasmine Paolini, ITA
Jessie Pegula, USA
Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Iga Swiatek, POL
Taylor Townsend, USA

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS**
2016 CiCi Bellis/USA (3rd Rd.)
2017 Kaia Kanepi/EST (QF)
2018 Karolina Muchova/CZE (3rd Rd.)
2019 Taylor Townsend/USA (4th Rd.)
2021 Emma Raducanu/GBR (W)
2022 Clara Burel/FRA and Yuan Yue/CHN (3rd Rd.)
2023 Kaja Juvan/SLO and Greet Minnen/BEL (3rd Rd.)
2024 Gabriela Ruse/ROU and Jessika Ponchet/FRA (3rd Rd.)
2025 Priscilla Hon/AUS (3rd Rd.)
2026 Zheng Qinwen/CHN (in 3rd Rd.)

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "LAST WILD CARD STANDING" WINNERS**
2017 Maria Sharapova, RUS (4th Rd.)
2018 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (3rd Rd.)
2019 Kristie Ahn, USA (4th Rd.)
2020 C.Bellis/USA, K.Scott/USA & S.Vickery/USA (2nd Rd.)
2021 0-8 in 1st Rd.
2022 Elli Mandlik, USA (2nd Rd.)
2023 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (4th Rd.)
2024 Iva Jovic/USA & Naomi Osaka/JPN (2nd Rd.)
2025 Caty McNally, USA (2nd Rd.)
2026 Jeanjean/FRA, Kenin/USA, Preston/AUS, Stephens/USA (2nd)

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK" WINNERS**
2015 Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
2016 Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2017 Madison Keys, USA and Sloane Stephens, USA
2018 Katerina Siniakova, CZE
2019 Donna Vekic, CRO
2020 Varvara Gracheva, RUS
2021 Elise Mertens, BEL and Rebeka Masarova, ESP
2022 Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2023 Elise Mertens, BEL
2024 Paula Badosa, ESP
2025 Moyuka Uchijima, JPN
2026 Madison Keys, USA

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "BROADWAY-BOUND" WINNERS**
2017 Sharapova vs. Halep ("Opening Night")
2018 Kaia Kanepi, EST
2019 "Call Me Coco" summer preview shows
2020 "Three Moms & the Quarterfinals" (Serena, Vika and Pironkova)
2021 "Oh Canada!" (Fernandez, Andreescu, Dabrowski... +FAA men's SF)
2022 "Danielle After Dark" (Collins)
2023 "Jabeurwocky" (Jabeur)
2024 "In the Heat of the Night" (Zheng Q./Vekic 2:16 a.m. finish)
2025 Naomi Osaka presents "Labubus Take New York"
2026 Naomi Osaka (and the nominee for "Best Costume Design" is...)

**BACKSPIN 2026 FRESH FACE-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Iva Jovic, USA
AO: Iva Jovic, USA
FEB: Victoria Mboko, CAN
MAR: Victoria Mboko, CAN
1Q...MBOKO
APR: Yuliia Starodubtseva, UKR
MAY: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
RG: Diana Shnaider, RUS
2Q 1...SHNAIDER
JUN: Robin Montgomery, USA
WI: Alex Eala, PHI
2Q 2 (grass)...EALA
JUL: Kristina Liutova, RUS
AUG: Sara Bejlek, CZE
[Multiple 2025 Weekly FRESH FACE Award Wins]
6...Iva Jovic, USA
5...Nikola Bartunkova, CZE
4...Alex Eala, PHI
4...Talia Gibson, AUS
3...Alina Korneeva, RUS
3...Petra Marcinko, CRO
2...Mirra Andreeva, RUS
2...Hailey Baptiste, USA
2...Tyra Grant, ITA
2...Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2...Victoria Mboko, CAN
2...Oleksandra Oliynykova, UKR
2...Taylah Preston, AUS
2...Dominika Salkova, CZE
2...Oksana Selekhmeteva, ESP
2...Solana Sierra, ARG
2...Tereza Valentova, CZE
2...Dasha Vidmanova, CZE

**BACKSPIN 2026 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Joanna Garland, TPE
AO: Nikola Bartunkova, CZE
FEB: Oleksandra Oliynykova, UKR
MAR: Hailey Baptiste, USA
1Q...TALIA GIBSON, AUS
APR: Lilli Tagger, AUT
MAY: Hailey Baptiste, USA
RG: Diane Parry, FRA
2Q 1...ANASTASIA POTAPOVA, AUT
JUN: Nikola Bartunkova, CZE
WI: Ashlyn Krueger, USA
2Q 2 (grass)...BARTUNKOVA
JUL: Francesca Jones, GBR
AUG: Alina Korneeva, RUS





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The Arch: NOW WITH A "Military Observation Deck" Suddenly the Arch is necessary for National Security @anntelnaes.bsky.social

[image or embed]

— paulpro (@mariopro.bsky.social) September 3, 2026 at 4:55 PM











TOP QUALIFIER: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #7 Karolina Muchova/CZE (follows up MX title w/ 4 games lost 1r/2r)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: #31 Andrea Lazaro Garcia/ESP def. Mai Hontama/JPN 5-7/7-6(6)/6-1 - saved 7 MP, four at 5-4 in 2nd set and three more at triple MP at 6-3 in TB
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Cristina Bucsa/ESP def. (Q) Himeno Sakatsume/JPN 7-6(6)/6-7(0)/7-6(10-6) - three tie-breaks; Bucsa served 5-4 w/ 2 MP in 3rd, then again at 6-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Jasmine Paolini/ITA (def. Veronika Erjavec/SLO)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE (1r- lost to Kamila Rakhimova/UZB)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: Polina Iatcenko/RUS (1st MD), Himeno Sakatsume/JPN (2nd), Lilli Tagger/AUT (2nd)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Nadia Podoroska/ARG, Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA (both 2nd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: D.Semenistaja/LAT (1r-L)
UPSET QUEENS: Spain
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
NATION OF POOR SOULS: SUI (0-3 1st Rd.; #12 Bencic hightest seed out; Teichmann w/d)
CRASH & BURN: x
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Madison Keys/USA (2r- saved 5 MP vs. Bondar/HUN; Bondar 2 MP at 5-2 in 3rd, 3 more at 5-3, then served for again at 5-4; Bondar led 5-3 in MTB, Keys won last 7 points)
IT ("?"): x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Zheng Qinwen/CHN (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Leolia Jeanjean/FRA, Sofia Kenin/USA, Taylah Preston/AUS, Sloane Stephens/USA (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: in 3r: Anisimova, Gauff, Jovic, Keys, Li, Navarro, Pegula, Townsend
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Nominee: Frodin (17; makes slam debut)
BROADWAY-BOUND: Naomi Osaka (and the nominee for "Best Costume Design" is...)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Kenin d. V.Williams in 2:02 a.m. finish (latest 1r)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
BIG CITY ROLLER: x







All for Day 5. More tomorrow.
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