Borna Coric pulls the upset.....He takes out the #4 seed Alexander Zverev.....3-6...7-5...7-6...7-6.
Kyle Edmund is a sleeper.....Watch this guy.....He takes out the American Steve Johnson in straight sets.....7-5...6-2...7-6.
Venus renaissance rolls on.
WHAT HAPPENED
Venus Williams continued her remarkable renaissance, rolling over 48th-ranked Oceane Dodin of France in the second round, 7-5, 6-4. The 37-year-old Williams reached the finals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year - on Wednesday, she once again showed the recaptured form that has returned the two-time Open winner back into the Top 10.
Despite miniature lapses at the end of each set, when Williams let comfortable advantages slip, the American twice rebounded almost immediately to snuff out the challenge from her younger opponent in front of the night crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In the opening set, Williams, the No. 9 seed, held a 5-2 lead and served for the set, only to get broken and extended to 5-5. Just as quickly as she let the 20-year-old Frenchwoman back into the set, Williams bounced back by hitting her way out of trouble and breaking Dodin to win the opener, 7-5.
Venus jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set. She served for the match at 5-3 when she was broken for a second time, but immediately broke back to win. Williams smacked a down-the-line backhand off of Dodin's second serve to break at love to advance.
About those letdowns, which momentarily complicated the match, Williams was sanguine: "The match isn't over until you shake hands, as I certainly know.
"The best thing about tennis is that it there's always an opportunity to do it again."
Williams served especially strongly, striking six aces and winning 80 percent of her first-serve points, and pounced on her opponent's weak second serve (Dodin won only 37 percent of those deliveries).
WHAT IT MEANS
The matchup was a look at two willowy, long-limbed six-footers: both clean, aggressive ballstrikers at very different stages of their careers. Williams and Dodin are separated by 17 years and an ocean of tennis achievements.
Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion. After 20 years on tour, the American has amassed 49 singles titles. Dodin, playing in just her second US Open, has captured a single WTA title and never been past the second round in a major.
Dodin has the tools to have a more successful career as she matures into her twenties: she hits a hard, flat ball off both wings, and for a tall woman moves well and gets low to absorb pace but struggles to establish her second serve. Venus, of course, has a long career behind her and wants to make the most of this New York present.
The last time Williams reached two Slam finals in a claendar year was 2002. Such has been her rebound that Venus is one of now seven women who technically have a shot at returning to the top ranking at the close of the US Open: Williams would have to win the tournament, and Garbine Muguruza would have to lose before the fourth round.
MATCH POINT
Williams has already demonstrated that she has the health, confidence and of course game to go deep in a major in 2017. Twenty years after her first appearnce in the Open's main draw, when she reached the final, is Williams in a position to dream about winning her first US Open since 2001?
WHAT HAPPENED
Venus Williams continued her remarkable renaissance, rolling over 48th-ranked Oceane Dodin of France in the second round, 7-5, 6-4. The 37-year-old Williams reached the finals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year - on Wednesday, she once again showed the recaptured form that has returned the two-time Open winner back into the Top 10.
Despite miniature lapses at the end of each set, when Williams let comfortable advantages slip, the American twice rebounded almost immediately to snuff out the challenge from her younger opponent in front of the night crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In the opening set, Williams, the No. 9 seed, held a 5-2 lead and served for the set, only to get broken and extended to 5-5. Just as quickly as she let the 20-year-old Frenchwoman back into the set, Williams bounced back by hitting her way out of trouble and breaking Dodin to win the opener, 7-5.
Venus jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set. She served for the match at 5-3 when she was broken for a second time, but immediately broke back to win. Williams smacked a down-the-line backhand off of Dodin's second serve to break at love to advance.
About those letdowns, which momentarily complicated the match, Williams was sanguine: "The match isn't over until you shake hands, as I certainly know.
"The best thing about tennis is that it there's always an opportunity to do it again."
Williams served especially strongly, striking six aces and winning 80 percent of her first-serve points, and pounced on her opponent's weak second serve (Dodin won only 37 percent of those deliveries).
WHAT IT MEANS
The matchup was a look at two willowy, long-limbed six-footers: both clean, aggressive ballstrikers at very different stages of their careers. Williams and Dodin are separated by 17 years and an ocean of tennis achievements.
Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion. After 20 years on tour, the American has amassed 49 singles titles. Dodin, playing in just her second US Open, has captured a single WTA title and never been past the second round in a major.
Dodin has the tools to have a more successful career as she matures into her twenties: she hits a hard, flat ball off both wings, and for a tall woman moves well and gets low to absorb pace but struggles to establish her second serve. Venus, of course, has a long career behind her and wants to make the most of this New York present.
The last time Williams reached two Slam finals in a claendar year was 2002. Such has been her rebound that Venus is one of now seven women who technically have a shot at returning to the top ranking at the close of the US Open: Williams would have to win the tournament, and Garbine Muguruza would have to lose before the fourth round.
MATCH POINT
Williams has already demonstrated that she has the health, confidence and of course game to go deep in a major in 2017. Twenty years after her first appearnce in the Open's main draw, when she reached the final, is Williams in a position to dream about winning her first US Open since 2001?
Sharapova overcomes early deficit to top Babos.
WHAT HAPPENED: Maria Sharapova punched her ticket into the third round of the US Open, coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Timea Babos, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With Sharapova slow to reach the blistering form she displayed in her first-round win over No. 2 seed Simona Halep, Babos duly took advantage to edge ahead by claiming a tight opening set in exactly one hour on the match clock.
The big-serving Hungarian proved effective on the other side of the ball in the first set as well, breaking the Sharapova serve three times in five opportunities. But she was unable to close it out, with Sharapova breaking Babos when she served for the opening set at 5-4 and 6-5.
Nonetheless, the tiebreak proved to be all Babos. She built a 4-1 lead by winning three of the four points off Sharapova's serve to set the tone, and moved one set away from a stunning result and a second straight appearance in the US Open third round.
Though she fell behind a break to start the second set, a two-game swing put Babos ahead 3-2 at the midway point, and she earned herself two break points in a critical sixth game. But the 2006 US Open champion dug deep, saving both break chances, and used her momentum to earn what proved to be the deciding break of serve in the next game. A love hold sent Sharapova into a decider in emphatic fashion, and she pulled away from Babos in the decider by breaking serve three times, hitting nine winners and losing just three points on her serve.
"I still think I need a little bit more time, a little bit more matches. I'm definitely a player that likes and prefers to play with instinct. I like the moments where you have to figure it out on yourself," Sharapova said after the match. "Obviously, you go into a match with a little bit of a plan on how you're going to play and execute, but there are times in a match where you just have to play with instinct."
WHAT IT MEANS: In two matches at the US Open thus far, Sharapova has logged just over five hours on court, as she continues to play her way into form after competing in just one match in the US Open Series in Stanford due to an arm injury.
Sharapova had missed three of the past four US Open tournaments since she reached the semifinals in 2012, with her lone appearance ending in the fourth round at the hands of Caroline Wozniacki in 2014.
"I certainly have expectations just because I know I've been in these stages before and I've been able to execute. There's a certain level of I know I can do this, I've done it before. I want to have that feeling again," she said. "There's also the realistic understanding of, 'Okay, you haven't been in this situation for a while. It's going to take a little time.' Of course, managing expectations is part of it, learning as you play the matches, which is something I haven't done for a long time."
MATCH POINT: With two rounds and six sets under her belt, will Sharapova continue to play her way into contention?
WHAT HAPPENED: Maria Sharapova punched her ticket into the third round of the US Open, coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Timea Babos, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With Sharapova slow to reach the blistering form she displayed in her first-round win over No. 2 seed Simona Halep, Babos duly took advantage to edge ahead by claiming a tight opening set in exactly one hour on the match clock.
The big-serving Hungarian proved effective on the other side of the ball in the first set as well, breaking the Sharapova serve three times in five opportunities. But she was unable to close it out, with Sharapova breaking Babos when she served for the opening set at 5-4 and 6-5.
Nonetheless, the tiebreak proved to be all Babos. She built a 4-1 lead by winning three of the four points off Sharapova's serve to set the tone, and moved one set away from a stunning result and a second straight appearance in the US Open third round.
Though she fell behind a break to start the second set, a two-game swing put Babos ahead 3-2 at the midway point, and she earned herself two break points in a critical sixth game. But the 2006 US Open champion dug deep, saving both break chances, and used her momentum to earn what proved to be the deciding break of serve in the next game. A love hold sent Sharapova into a decider in emphatic fashion, and she pulled away from Babos in the decider by breaking serve three times, hitting nine winners and losing just three points on her serve.
"I still think I need a little bit more time, a little bit more matches. I'm definitely a player that likes and prefers to play with instinct. I like the moments where you have to figure it out on yourself," Sharapova said after the match. "Obviously, you go into a match with a little bit of a plan on how you're going to play and execute, but there are times in a match where you just have to play with instinct."
WHAT IT MEANS: In two matches at the US Open thus far, Sharapova has logged just over five hours on court, as she continues to play her way into form after competing in just one match in the US Open Series in Stanford due to an arm injury.
Sharapova had missed three of the past four US Open tournaments since she reached the semifinals in 2012, with her lone appearance ending in the fourth round at the hands of Caroline Wozniacki in 2014.
"I certainly have expectations just because I know I've been in these stages before and I've been able to execute. There's a certain level of I know I can do this, I've done it before. I want to have that feeling again," she said. "There's also the realistic understanding of, 'Okay, you haven't been in this situation for a while. It's going to take a little time.' Of course, managing expectations is part of it, learning as you play the matches, which is something I haven't done for a long time."
MATCH POINT: With two rounds and six sets under her belt, will Sharapova continue to play her way into contention?
[h=1]Rodina ousts Bouchard.[/h]
[h=1]Top 5 plays Babos vs. Sharapova.[/h]
Riske vs. Vandeweghe game highlights.
@BenRothenberg
Sloane Stephens recovers from letting a 4-1 lead slip in the second set, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 over #11 Dominika Cibulkova. <s>
</s>
As a rookie for the Patriots during the 1988 NFL season, Stephens rushed for 1,168 yards.
Sybil Smith, Sloane's Mother, as a swimmer at Boston University, became the first African-American female to be named First Team All-American in Division I history
in 1988.
You can hear Maria from Brooklyn...lol
[h=1]Chung vs. Isner game highlights.[/h]
[h=1]Top 5 plays Millman vs. Nut job.[/h]
Tumaini CarayolVerified account @tumcarayolSloane Stephens' 4 top 15 wins this month are more than she has ever recorded in any other full season. Surreal return to form.
Sloane Stephens can make the Semifinals (at least?) with how she's playing and her draw. @BenRothenberg
Freelance writer for New York Times (+more).
Co-host <s>@</s>NCR_Tennis podcast. Mostly tennis. Enjoys Eurovision and IKEA furniture assembly. benrothenberg1@gmail.com
Washington, DC
nytimes.com/by/ben-rothenb…
Freelance writer for New York Times (+more).
Co-host <s>@</s>NCR_Tennis podcast. Mostly tennis. Enjoys Eurovision and IKEA furniture assembly. benrothenberg1@gmail.com
Washington, DC
nytimes.com/by/ben-rothenb…
mmm mmm mmm good.....I`m in love.....She puts away Ying-Ying Duan.....6-4...6-0.
