Elina is through to the 3rd round.....She beats Evgeniya Rodina.....6-4...6-4.
No. 12 seed Jelena Ostapenko wins in straight sets over Sorana Cirstea.....6-4...6-4.
Naomi fends off Denisa in 3 sets.....6-3...4-6...7-5.
12 seeds already OUT
Zverev
Tsonga
Sock
Kyrgios
Muller
Ramos
Ferrer
Fognini
Khachanov
Gasquet
Cuevas
Haase
Zverev
Tsonga
Sock
Kyrgios
Muller
Ramos
Ferrer
Fognini
Khachanov
Gasquet
Cuevas
Haase
Defending US Open doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands has long been a charismatic and beloved member of the traveling tennis circus. But during Wimbledon, she suffered a major injury that even threatened to end her career. While Bethanie recovers, she’s here in New York with #GameSetMattek—taking us behind-the-scenes with exclusive access to many members of the tennis community.
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/08/gamesetmattek-bethanie-mattek-sands-chats-her-pals-us-open/68816/
Osaka: A force in the fortnight?
Ten. That’s both the number of years and number of titles between defending US Open champion Angelique Kerber and her first-round opponent, world No. 45 Naomi Osaka.
Two. That’s the amount of sets it took underdog Osaka to dethrone the crown-wearing Kerber in just over an hour on Tuesday at the 2017 US Open, 6-3, 6-1, under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Osaka came out firing on all cylinders. The 19-year-old’s game was keen in all aspects, from a dependable serve, to a devastating backhand that had the young player ripping balls by Kerber. Overall, she secured 22 winners and won 86 percent of her net points in the pair’s first meeting.
Besides her elevated game, Osaka took the court with the composure and grace of a longtime player, stifling any disappointed outbursts or overtly boisterous celebrations. Her emotional resolve was a hard lesson learned a year earlier on the very same court. The then-18-year-old dissolved into tears after blowing a 5-1 lead to American Madison Keys, to whom she ultimately fell, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, in their third-round battle at the 2016 US Open.
Her win on Tuesday marked her first victory against a Top 10 opponent in only her second main-draw showing at the US Open. And better yet, she backed it up on Thursday, fighting past Denisa Allertova, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, and into the third round.
Could we be on the precipice of Osaka’s ascent into tennis domination? Or is it just a glimmer of greatness from a player still in the callow state of her career?
Osaka’s not a newcomer to squaring off against some of the biggest contenders in the game.
2014 was her first major victory, when she upended 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. The then-16-year-old, who at the time was ranked No. 406, clocked serves averaging 120 mph and won after saving a match point.
That was when the Japanese native thought that maybe, just maybe, she had what it would take to tussle with the tennis elite.
“That match that I beat Stosur," Osaka replied to a reporter who asked when the young player started to gain confidence in her game, “I had, like, a little bit of thought of, hey, maybe I can play against these players, right?”
That slight, almost cautionary, self-confidence stayed with Osaka. 2016 began when she posted an impressive run at the Australian Open, making it through qualifying before falling to two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round.
Success followed her to the clay courts that year, when at Roland Garros, Osaka cruised past No. 32 seed Jelena Ostapenko, who would claim the French Open title a year later, in two sets, 6-4, 7-5. She went on to take No. 6 seed Simona Halep to three sets in the third round before finally falling, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Osaka’s crucible came at Tokyo in 2016, when after knocking out Misaki Doi in the first round, she dropped only three games to No. 6 seed Dominka Cibulkova in Round 2, defeating the world No. 12, 6-2, 6-1. She went on to make a stirring run in Tokyo, advancing all the way to the final before losing to Caroline Wozniacki.
"After the match against Cibulkova,” Osaka said, “I think I started thinking I could possibly be a threat.”
2016 was Osaka’s first Top 40 year-end finish, and she was the recipient of the WTA Newcomer of the Year Award.
She started 2017 on a high, defeating longtime idol Venus Williams in Auckland before losing in the quarterfinals to No. 8 seed Ana Konjuh.
But the rest of the year has been less fruitful. Since her Auckland run, she has consistently seen early departures from events, unable to make it past the third round of any tournament.
Toronto seemed promising for the young Japanese player. She qualified into the main draw, reaching the third round and stealing a set from top seed Karolina Pliskova before having to retire due to an abdominal injury.
“Yeah, well, having to withdraw really hurt my feelings,” Osaka mentioned to the press at her post-match conference on Tuesday, “especially since I was playing the No. 1 and felt like I was doing really well.”
But her first-round send-off of Kerber could be the catalyst that Osaka has been preparing for.
She is one of just four teenagers in the world's Top 100, entering the US Open ranked No. 51. And even though she’s only appeared in six total Grand Slam main draws coming into the 2017 US Open, she has already reached the third round in all four majors.
If Osaka hopes to make it through the fortnight, she’ll have to keep the momentum and mindset going that she had in the Kerber match.
Her mental game is still developing, and her coach David Taylor, according to Osaka, has made it a priority for his player.
“He talks to me a lot about positivity because I tend to be really negative on myself and to the point where I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore,” she said.
Should she successfully stave off the abdominal injury that plagued her Rogers Cup run earlier this summer, Osaka very well could break her all-time best Slam showing. Her quarter of the draw, should her whipping ground strokes and level-headed demeanor stick with her, could result in a quarterfinal match against the opponent who thwarted her in the third round last year: Madison Keys.
But Osaka isn’t intimidated anymore – at least not after kicking out the defending Grand Slam winner in the first round.
“Moving forward," she said, "I feel like I know that I can play with the top players now, so I don’t have to be as nervous as I was today."
Ten. That’s both the number of years and number of titles between defending US Open champion Angelique Kerber and her first-round opponent, world No. 45 Naomi Osaka.
Two. That’s the amount of sets it took underdog Osaka to dethrone the crown-wearing Kerber in just over an hour on Tuesday at the 2017 US Open, 6-3, 6-1, under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Osaka came out firing on all cylinders. The 19-year-old’s game was keen in all aspects, from a dependable serve, to a devastating backhand that had the young player ripping balls by Kerber. Overall, she secured 22 winners and won 86 percent of her net points in the pair’s first meeting.
Besides her elevated game, Osaka took the court with the composure and grace of a longtime player, stifling any disappointed outbursts or overtly boisterous celebrations. Her emotional resolve was a hard lesson learned a year earlier on the very same court. The then-18-year-old dissolved into tears after blowing a 5-1 lead to American Madison Keys, to whom she ultimately fell, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, in their third-round battle at the 2016 US Open.
Her win on Tuesday marked her first victory against a Top 10 opponent in only her second main-draw showing at the US Open. And better yet, she backed it up on Thursday, fighting past Denisa Allertova, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, and into the third round.
Could we be on the precipice of Osaka’s ascent into tennis domination? Or is it just a glimmer of greatness from a player still in the callow state of her career?
Osaka’s not a newcomer to squaring off against some of the biggest contenders in the game.
2014 was her first major victory, when she upended 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. The then-16-year-old, who at the time was ranked No. 406, clocked serves averaging 120 mph and won after saving a match point.
That was when the Japanese native thought that maybe, just maybe, she had what it would take to tussle with the tennis elite.
“That match that I beat Stosur," Osaka replied to a reporter who asked when the young player started to gain confidence in her game, “I had, like, a little bit of thought of, hey, maybe I can play against these players, right?”
That slight, almost cautionary, self-confidence stayed with Osaka. 2016 began when she posted an impressive run at the Australian Open, making it through qualifying before falling to two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round.
Success followed her to the clay courts that year, when at Roland Garros, Osaka cruised past No. 32 seed Jelena Ostapenko, who would claim the French Open title a year later, in two sets, 6-4, 7-5. She went on to take No. 6 seed Simona Halep to three sets in the third round before finally falling, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Osaka’s crucible came at Tokyo in 2016, when after knocking out Misaki Doi in the first round, she dropped only three games to No. 6 seed Dominka Cibulkova in Round 2, defeating the world No. 12, 6-2, 6-1. She went on to make a stirring run in Tokyo, advancing all the way to the final before losing to Caroline Wozniacki.
"After the match against Cibulkova,” Osaka said, “I think I started thinking I could possibly be a threat.”
2016 was Osaka’s first Top 40 year-end finish, and she was the recipient of the WTA Newcomer of the Year Award.
She started 2017 on a high, defeating longtime idol Venus Williams in Auckland before losing in the quarterfinals to No. 8 seed Ana Konjuh.
But the rest of the year has been less fruitful. Since her Auckland run, she has consistently seen early departures from events, unable to make it past the third round of any tournament.
Toronto seemed promising for the young Japanese player. She qualified into the main draw, reaching the third round and stealing a set from top seed Karolina Pliskova before having to retire due to an abdominal injury.
“Yeah, well, having to withdraw really hurt my feelings,” Osaka mentioned to the press at her post-match conference on Tuesday, “especially since I was playing the No. 1 and felt like I was doing really well.”
But her first-round send-off of Kerber could be the catalyst that Osaka has been preparing for.
She is one of just four teenagers in the world's Top 100, entering the US Open ranked No. 51. And even though she’s only appeared in six total Grand Slam main draws coming into the 2017 US Open, she has already reached the third round in all four majors.
If Osaka hopes to make it through the fortnight, she’ll have to keep the momentum and mindset going that she had in the Kerber match.
Her mental game is still developing, and her coach David Taylor, according to Osaka, has made it a priority for his player.
“He talks to me a lot about positivity because I tend to be really negative on myself and to the point where I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore,” she said.
Should she successfully stave off the abdominal injury that plagued her Rogers Cup run earlier this summer, Osaka very well could break her all-time best Slam showing. Her quarter of the draw, should her whipping ground strokes and level-headed demeanor stick with her, could result in a quarterfinal match against the opponent who thwarted her in the third round last year: Madison Keys.
But Osaka isn’t intimidated anymore – at least not after kicking out the defending Grand Slam winner in the first round.
“Moving forward," she said, "I feel like I know that I can play with the top players now, so I don’t have to be as nervous as I was today."
[h=1]Fritz tailor-made for success.[/h]
When Taylor Fritz was 4 years old, his mother, 1978 US Open quarterfinalist Kathy May Fritz, was competing in the champion’s event in Flushing Meadows. Guy Fritz, Taylor’s father and a former touring pro himself, walked his young son out onto the empty court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, the grandest stage in all of tennis.
“One day, you’re going to play on this court,” Guy, who put a racquet in his son’s hands at the age of 2, told Taylor. “You’re going to win matches here.”
To say that Fritz’s match Tuesday against Marcos Baghdatis was a long time coming is an understatement. Taylor says that his father has always had one dream: to watch him win a match at the US Open. So when the 19-year-old took a quick step inside the baseline to blast a cross-court backhand passing shot past the former world No. 8, clinching his first career Grand Slam victory, he made a dream come true.
“It just felt so good. You know, just the emotions of finally winning my first Grand Slam match, I have had to wait a really, really long time for it,” Fritz said. “I told myself to really go for it, and as soon as I hit it, I knew that was going to do it. I don't know, just the rush of emotions, like, that's the best part about tennis.”
Six times previously Fritz had tried to win a Grand Slam main draw match. Six times he had fallen short. It hadn’t helped that the newly minted father of seven-month-old Jordan had played four players ranked 27th or better in those matches. Last season alone, the teenager lost two five-setters to compatriot Jack Sock, including a defeat at the US Open.
“I feel like the way I have played in a lot of my matches I would have beaten a lot of other players,” Fritz said. “I think it just wasn't really meant to be a lot of the other times.”
But there was never a doubt on Wednesday that Fritz would come out on top.
And while falling from a career-high No. 53 before last year’s US Open to his current spot as the 108th-ranked player in the world has not been ideal, Fritz has learned not to dwell on expectations. Two years ago he was the No. 1 junior in the world, having won the boys’ singles crown in Flushing Meadows. Yet it was in that year’s qualifying draw that he suffered one of his greatest disappointments, losing 6-3, 6-3 against Luca Vanni in the opening round.
“I just played a horrendous match because I had so much riding on it. I expected so much of myself,” Fritz said. “Since then, I have kind of learned to just take it easy. Obviously I can't trick myself into thinking, you know, it's not the US Open, it's not a really big deal, but I just try and take it like any other tournament and just try and play my game.”
It is that game that helped Fritz initially burst past a burgeoning army of young American men last season, including the likes of Frances Tiafoe, who pushed Roger Federer to five sets Tuesday. Fritz is the first to say that all of those young Americans were better than him when they were younger.
“For me to be on the same court as them was just a joke,” Fritz told GQ. “I remember once I was practicing with Stefan [Kozlov, ranked No. 141] and they took me off the court because I was so bad.”
But "bad" was not what propelled Fritz from 685th in the rankings the week of the 2015 US Open to No. 53 the same time last summer. That surge helped him earn the ATP Star of Tomorrow Award last November, given to the youngest player in the Top 100. The big-hitting ground-stroker also reached last year’s Memphis final in just his second tour-level event. Fritz has even earned praise from Federer, the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
"He hits a great ball,” Federer said after practicing with Fritz at Wimbledon in 2015. “I predict a good future for him."
That future was momentarily paused when a nagging knee problem kept Fritz out for more than a month at the end of last season, hampering his offseason training. But now that Fritz will be back inside the Top 100 with his first Slam win, a steady rise back to where he was last year may not be far off.
“I’m so proud of you,” Guy told Taylor after he Baghdatis.
A father hugged his son, fighting back tears, standing in the shadow of the stadium court they walked onto 15 years earlier, dreaming of such a moment. Fritz, happy to have his wife and a son of his own in tow, has an opportunity to move one step closer to their dreams Thursday against No. 6 Dominic Thiem.
When Taylor Fritz was 4 years old, his mother, 1978 US Open quarterfinalist Kathy May Fritz, was competing in the champion’s event in Flushing Meadows. Guy Fritz, Taylor’s father and a former touring pro himself, walked his young son out onto the empty court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, the grandest stage in all of tennis.
“One day, you’re going to play on this court,” Guy, who put a racquet in his son’s hands at the age of 2, told Taylor. “You’re going to win matches here.”
To say that Fritz’s match Tuesday against Marcos Baghdatis was a long time coming is an understatement. Taylor says that his father has always had one dream: to watch him win a match at the US Open. So when the 19-year-old took a quick step inside the baseline to blast a cross-court backhand passing shot past the former world No. 8, clinching his first career Grand Slam victory, he made a dream come true.
“It just felt so good. You know, just the emotions of finally winning my first Grand Slam match, I have had to wait a really, really long time for it,” Fritz said. “I told myself to really go for it, and as soon as I hit it, I knew that was going to do it. I don't know, just the rush of emotions, like, that's the best part about tennis.”
Six times previously Fritz had tried to win a Grand Slam main draw match. Six times he had fallen short. It hadn’t helped that the newly minted father of seven-month-old Jordan had played four players ranked 27th or better in those matches. Last season alone, the teenager lost two five-setters to compatriot Jack Sock, including a defeat at the US Open.
“I feel like the way I have played in a lot of my matches I would have beaten a lot of other players,” Fritz said. “I think it just wasn't really meant to be a lot of the other times.”
But there was never a doubt on Wednesday that Fritz would come out on top.
And while falling from a career-high No. 53 before last year’s US Open to his current spot as the 108th-ranked player in the world has not been ideal, Fritz has learned not to dwell on expectations. Two years ago he was the No. 1 junior in the world, having won the boys’ singles crown in Flushing Meadows. Yet it was in that year’s qualifying draw that he suffered one of his greatest disappointments, losing 6-3, 6-3 against Luca Vanni in the opening round.
“I just played a horrendous match because I had so much riding on it. I expected so much of myself,” Fritz said. “Since then, I have kind of learned to just take it easy. Obviously I can't trick myself into thinking, you know, it's not the US Open, it's not a really big deal, but I just try and take it like any other tournament and just try and play my game.”
It is that game that helped Fritz initially burst past a burgeoning army of young American men last season, including the likes of Frances Tiafoe, who pushed Roger Federer to five sets Tuesday. Fritz is the first to say that all of those young Americans were better than him when they were younger.
“For me to be on the same court as them was just a joke,” Fritz told GQ. “I remember once I was practicing with Stefan [Kozlov, ranked No. 141] and they took me off the court because I was so bad.”
But "bad" was not what propelled Fritz from 685th in the rankings the week of the 2015 US Open to No. 53 the same time last summer. That surge helped him earn the ATP Star of Tomorrow Award last November, given to the youngest player in the Top 100. The big-hitting ground-stroker also reached last year’s Memphis final in just his second tour-level event. Fritz has even earned praise from Federer, the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
"He hits a great ball,” Federer said after practicing with Fritz at Wimbledon in 2015. “I predict a good future for him."
That future was momentarily paused when a nagging knee problem kept Fritz out for more than a month at the end of last season, hampering his offseason training. But now that Fritz will be back inside the Top 100 with his first Slam win, a steady rise back to where he was last year may not be far off.
“I’m so proud of you,” Guy told Taylor after he Baghdatis.
A father hugged his son, fighting back tears, standing in the shadow of the stadium court they walked onto 15 years earlier, dreaming of such a moment. Fritz, happy to have his wife and a son of his own in tow, has an opportunity to move one step closer to their dreams Thursday against No. 6 Dominic Thiem.
Tomas with the lackluster effort.....Didn`t play like a 15 seed.....He gets bounced by Alexandr Dolgopolov.....3-6...6-1...7-6...6-2.
Oh well,great effort but not enough to overcome the World`s #1.....Karolina survives a scare and moves on.....2-6...6-3...6-4.
Telling Ya. Somehow I got lucky enough to get off that Yuge Fave ML Approach on Parlays just in time. Switched to TOTALS (OVERS) as a Primary Focus re: parlay and have been Crushing like Shapovalov.
Well.....not THAT much Crushing....more like Crushing like Brooke Henderson.
Occasional Very Good to Excellent Round.
I even hit an UNDER Yesterday.
Under 17 Games Muguruza.
I still am Amazed that it happened.
I'd never won a Tennis Under on Ladies in my whole life.
Total Was O/U 17.
Talk about "Balls."
Not as Yuge as Harry Caray's....yeah.
nice job MD, happy for you
speaking of Brooke, my brother has seen her in action. He was surprised how short she is and did remark that she has soccer thighs.
look at this swing. at the top the club is WAY past parallel, WAY past, then she has an odd move to flatten it. Like all good golfers the R elbow stays close to her body . Tremendous torque. Balnced at the finish beautifully. Tiny kid hits it a mile. She's 5'4 and average driving distance is 265 yards. lol
this thread needed a golf swing ......truth..........
speaking of Brooke, my brother has seen her in action. He was surprised how short she is and did remark that she has soccer thighs.
look at this swing. at the top the club is WAY past parallel, WAY past, then she has an odd move to flatten it. Like all good golfers the R elbow stays close to her body . Tremendous torque. Balnced at the finish beautifully. Tiny kid hits it a mile. She's 5'4 and average driving distance is 265 yards. lol
this thread needed a golf swing ......truth..........
