Juan keeps moving along.....On to the next round....Ferrer is no match.....7-6...6-2...6-3.
Andy is all business once again.....He says bye bye to Pablo Lorenzi.....7-6...5-7...6-2...6-3
Single-session attendance record set Friday, broken Saturday.....40,780 came to see Saturday`s action.
Stan is pushed to the limit ......It takes 5 sets but he gets it done.....He beats Daniel Evans.....4-6...6-3...6-7...7-6...6-2
Kei says hello to the 4th round.....He takes down Nicolas Mahut.....4-6...6-1...6-2...6-2
Grandma is on to the round of 16.....She powers past Siegemund.....6-1...6-2
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Venus soars into fourth round.
WHAT HAPPENED: Venus Williams, the sixth seed enjoying a late-career renaissance at age 36, crushed a fellow veteran and late bloomer, 26th-seeded Laura Siegemund of Germany, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the fourth round.
Williams won the opening set in 34 minutes, keeping her opponent deep behind the baseline with penetrating groundstrokes and never allowing Siegemund, 28, to gain a toehold. Williams did not play a particularly clean match – registering just 11 winners against 17 unforced errors – but she converted 6 of 10 break points to deflate the German's spirit.
"It was nice to win in straight sets," Williams said on court after her victory.
Asked about finding herself in the same section of the draw as younger sister Serena, and whether that mattered, Venus said, “Of course we care. That's why I've been trying to get my ranking up."
"Serena's been holding up her end of the deal," Venus continued. "I've been slacking."
WHAT IT MEANS: Venus, the oldest player in the women’s draw, is back up to No. 6 in the world. The last time the two-time US Open champion was seeded in the Top 10 here was 2010 (when was No. 3). Williams is making her 18th appearance at the US Open, the most among active players (and fourth in the Open era).
Venus won her 49th career singles title 2016, becoming the fourth-oldest player to win a WTA championship (at Kaohsiun, Taiwan), and she reached the semifinal at Wimbledon (losing to Kerber). In 2015, she reached the quarterfinals at both the Australian and US Opens.
Williams plays 10th seed Karolina Pliskova next.
Siegemund only entered the Top 100 for the first time last year, at age 27. Her appearance in the main draw at the Open – her first time ever as a seed – was just her second in Flushing Meadows (and just her sixth main-draw entry at a major overall). The German came into the Open on a bit of a roll: she owns a 3-3 record against Top 10 opponents, with wins over then-No. 2 Radwanska, No. 5 Halep, and No. 8 Vinci; since Wimbledon, she's compiled a 14-2 record, which includes a run to her maiden title, in Bastad.
THE QUESTION: Venus reached the quarterfinal at last year’s US Open. Does she have it in her to meet or surpass that result this year?
WHAT HAPPENED: Venus Williams, the sixth seed enjoying a late-career renaissance at age 36, crushed a fellow veteran and late bloomer, 26th-seeded Laura Siegemund of Germany, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the fourth round.
Williams won the opening set in 34 minutes, keeping her opponent deep behind the baseline with penetrating groundstrokes and never allowing Siegemund, 28, to gain a toehold. Williams did not play a particularly clean match – registering just 11 winners against 17 unforced errors – but she converted 6 of 10 break points to deflate the German's spirit.
"It was nice to win in straight sets," Williams said on court after her victory.
Asked about finding herself in the same section of the draw as younger sister Serena, and whether that mattered, Venus said, “Of course we care. That's why I've been trying to get my ranking up."
"Serena's been holding up her end of the deal," Venus continued. "I've been slacking."
WHAT IT MEANS: Venus, the oldest player in the women’s draw, is back up to No. 6 in the world. The last time the two-time US Open champion was seeded in the Top 10 here was 2010 (when was No. 3). Williams is making her 18th appearance at the US Open, the most among active players (and fourth in the Open era).
Venus won her 49th career singles title 2016, becoming the fourth-oldest player to win a WTA championship (at Kaohsiun, Taiwan), and she reached the semifinal at Wimbledon (losing to Kerber). In 2015, she reached the quarterfinals at both the Australian and US Opens.
Williams plays 10th seed Karolina Pliskova next.
Siegemund only entered the Top 100 for the first time last year, at age 27. Her appearance in the main draw at the Open – her first time ever as a seed – was just her second in Flushing Meadows (and just her sixth main-draw entry at a major overall). The German came into the Open on a bit of a roll: she owns a 3-3 record against Top 10 opponents, with wins over then-No. 2 Radwanska, No. 5 Halep, and No. 8 Vinci; since Wimbledon, she's compiled a 14-2 record, which includes a run to her maiden title, in Bastad.
THE QUESTION: Venus reached the quarterfinal at last year’s US Open. Does she have it in her to meet or surpass that result this year?
Nishikori overpowers Mahut after first-set blip.
WHAT HAPPENED: Kei Nishikori rebounded brilliantly after dropping the first set of his third-round match against French veteran Nicolas Mahut, prevailing in four sets on Saturday in the Grandstand, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
At age 34, Mahut came into the match having already achieved his best US Open result in 11 career appearances. His serve-and-volley game and mixture of spins frustrated Nishikori in the early stages of the match. Mahut earned the first break with a forehand volley winner to lead 4-2 in the opening set. He held that slight advantage the rest of the way, holding to love to grab the first set.
Nishikori immediately regrouped by breaking Mahut twice to take the second set. The Frenchman received a medical timeout afterwards, but it didn’t appear to benefit him much as he continued to struggle with his timing. Continuing to dictate the tempo of the rallies with his forehand, Nishikori broke Mahut three times to take the third set and a commanding lead.
The final set was also one-way traffic for Nishikori as Mahut’s game began to implode and the No. 6 seed played his best tennis of the night. Hitting just three unforced errors, he earned two more breaks of serve and hit two consecutive backhand winners on his serve at 5-2 to wrap up the match. Nishikori finished the night with 37 winners to 28 unforced errors, while Mahut likely won’t be satisfied with 21 winners to 41 unforced errors.
WHAT IT MEANS: Nishikori moves into the second week of the US Open for the only second time since 2008. But having reached the final here two years ago, he clearly knows what it takes to make a huge run in New York.
Next up for Nishikori is the winner of the match between No. 21 seed Ivo Karlovic and qualifier Jared Donaldson. Karlovic leads their head-to-head by 2-1, but their previous history doesn’t reflect what could happen on Monday because one of Karlovic’s wins was by retirement and they haven’t played in over two years. Nishikori won their most recent meeting in Memphis in February 2014.
The Japanese star is also in much more familiar territory. Karlovic has never been in the second week of the US Open before and has only reached the round of 16 at a major on four occasions, compared to 13 for Nishikori.
THE QUESTION: How far do you think Nishikori can go at this year’s US Open?
WHAT HAPPENED: Kei Nishikori rebounded brilliantly after dropping the first set of his third-round match against French veteran Nicolas Mahut, prevailing in four sets on Saturday in the Grandstand, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
At age 34, Mahut came into the match having already achieved his best US Open result in 11 career appearances. His serve-and-volley game and mixture of spins frustrated Nishikori in the early stages of the match. Mahut earned the first break with a forehand volley winner to lead 4-2 in the opening set. He held that slight advantage the rest of the way, holding to love to grab the first set.
Nishikori immediately regrouped by breaking Mahut twice to take the second set. The Frenchman received a medical timeout afterwards, but it didn’t appear to benefit him much as he continued to struggle with his timing. Continuing to dictate the tempo of the rallies with his forehand, Nishikori broke Mahut three times to take the third set and a commanding lead.
The final set was also one-way traffic for Nishikori as Mahut’s game began to implode and the No. 6 seed played his best tennis of the night. Hitting just three unforced errors, he earned two more breaks of serve and hit two consecutive backhand winners on his serve at 5-2 to wrap up the match. Nishikori finished the night with 37 winners to 28 unforced errors, while Mahut likely won’t be satisfied with 21 winners to 41 unforced errors.
WHAT IT MEANS: Nishikori moves into the second week of the US Open for the only second time since 2008. But having reached the final here two years ago, he clearly knows what it takes to make a huge run in New York.
Next up for Nishikori is the winner of the match between No. 21 seed Ivo Karlovic and qualifier Jared Donaldson. Karlovic leads their head-to-head by 2-1, but their previous history doesn’t reflect what could happen on Monday because one of Karlovic’s wins was by retirement and they haven’t played in over two years. Nishikori won their most recent meeting in Memphis in February 2014.
The Japanese star is also in much more familiar territory. Karlovic has never been in the second week of the US Open before and has only reached the round of 16 at a major on four occasions, compared to 13 for Nishikori.
THE QUESTION: How far do you think Nishikori can go at this year’s US Open?
Off-color Murray struggles past Lorenzi.
WHAT HAPPENED: Eleven years ago, Andy Murray beat Paolo Lorenzi in two easy sets in the second round of US Open qualifying. While the outcome was the same here Saturday, the method was vastly different, with an out-of-sorts Murray eventually overcoming the 34-year-old Italian, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
After 22 attempts, this was Lorenzi’s first showing in the third round of a Grand Slam, and stages don’t come much grander than this one. If the Italian did stop for a moment to take in the magnitude of the occasion, he might have appreciated the music that was pumped around Arthur Ashe Stadium during the warm up. The song in question was Lukas Graham’s "7 years" a tune about growing old and achieving before it’s too late, and the Italian veteran certainly made the most of this opportunity of a lifetime.
Few on the tour are capable of going toe-to-toe with Murray in extended rallies, but Lorenzi soon proved himself quite adept at doing so, with his topspin forehand preventing the world No. 2 from gaining any real rhythm. Murray, by contrast, was playing his weakest tennis of the tournament so far, and at 4-4 the Italian stole in to secure a previously unthinkable break. Murray needed to wake up, and he told himself as much during the changeover as Lorenzi prepared to serve for the opener.
Serving for a set can do strange things to the mind, though. The Italian faltered badly, and Murray quickly moved into a 6-5 lead. Lorenzi rallied to force a tiebreak, but the world No. 2 was just about strong enough to take the opener, sealing it with a dismissive forehand return that undoubtedly contained a lot of frustration at how the first set had gone.
Murray seemed certain to pull away after breaking at the first time of asking in the second set, but once again his level plummeted. Lorenzi immediately broke back to love, and Murray was now starting to look decidedly lethargic – intriguingly, a shirt change after the first set had revealed a small amount of taping on his left shoulder. Lorenzi sealed a second break courtesy of a Murray double fault, and although he once again failed to serve it out at 5-3 – Murray broke back after winning a 42-shot rally – Lorenzi broke once more to become the first man to take a set off the Brit this week.
By this point Lorenzi was doing a remarkably accurate impression of David Ferrer. Having only hit four winners in the second set, the Italian was earning points through his relentless running, making a mockery of his age and the fact he played for five hours against Gilles Simon on Thursday. Nevertheless, the third set started in the same fashion as the second, with a Murray break. This time, though, the Olympic gold medalist backed it up, and finally started to exert his authority on the match.
The key to that might have been a restringing of Murray's racquets. His coach Jamie Delgado could be seen courtside at one point, and Murray revealed after the match that he had changed the tension of his racquet. It made a difference. Once again, Murray started the fourth set with a break of serve, and just about managed to keep the indefatigable Lorenzi at bay to seal his passage into the fourth round.
WHAT IT MEANS: First, the good news. Murray became the third British player to reach the fourth round here, which is the first time that’s happened since 1985. Actually, that’s about it for good news.
We know Murray will raise his level when the going gets tough, but for the first two sets Murray arguably played as badly as he has at any point in a significant tournament this year – he finished the match with 63 unforced errors and only had a 53 percent success rate on his first serve.
While that level was still high enough to just about see off Lorenzi, this was nothing less than a grind. The world No. 2 is one of the fittest players on the tour, but tennis is a game of the finest margins, and the 3 hours and 17 minutes he spent on court here Saturday could take their toll later on in the tournament – particularly as Novak Djokovic has only played six games since the first round.
After blowing Lukas Rosol away in the first round, Murray looked a little out of sorts against Marcel Granollers, and decidedly off-color for the majority of this match. The Scot hasn’t been past the fourth round of the US Open since 2014, and his next opponent Grigor Dimitrov is firmly in the middle of a late-season resurgence. The Bulgarian famously beat Murray in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2014, and will pose a real test.
Credit must go to Lorenzi, though. Not many players look like they have more stamina than Murray, but the Italian appears to be one of them. This was a performance that demonstrated it’s never too late to make a breakthrough, and even if he never again replicates his efforts here, he can be extremely proud.
THE QUESTION: Can Andy Murray recover his best form in time for his fourth-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov?
WHAT HAPPENED: Eleven years ago, Andy Murray beat Paolo Lorenzi in two easy sets in the second round of US Open qualifying. While the outcome was the same here Saturday, the method was vastly different, with an out-of-sorts Murray eventually overcoming the 34-year-old Italian, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
After 22 attempts, this was Lorenzi’s first showing in the third round of a Grand Slam, and stages don’t come much grander than this one. If the Italian did stop for a moment to take in the magnitude of the occasion, he might have appreciated the music that was pumped around Arthur Ashe Stadium during the warm up. The song in question was Lukas Graham’s "7 years" a tune about growing old and achieving before it’s too late, and the Italian veteran certainly made the most of this opportunity of a lifetime.
Few on the tour are capable of going toe-to-toe with Murray in extended rallies, but Lorenzi soon proved himself quite adept at doing so, with his topspin forehand preventing the world No. 2 from gaining any real rhythm. Murray, by contrast, was playing his weakest tennis of the tournament so far, and at 4-4 the Italian stole in to secure a previously unthinkable break. Murray needed to wake up, and he told himself as much during the changeover as Lorenzi prepared to serve for the opener.
Serving for a set can do strange things to the mind, though. The Italian faltered badly, and Murray quickly moved into a 6-5 lead. Lorenzi rallied to force a tiebreak, but the world No. 2 was just about strong enough to take the opener, sealing it with a dismissive forehand return that undoubtedly contained a lot of frustration at how the first set had gone.
Murray seemed certain to pull away after breaking at the first time of asking in the second set, but once again his level plummeted. Lorenzi immediately broke back to love, and Murray was now starting to look decidedly lethargic – intriguingly, a shirt change after the first set had revealed a small amount of taping on his left shoulder. Lorenzi sealed a second break courtesy of a Murray double fault, and although he once again failed to serve it out at 5-3 – Murray broke back after winning a 42-shot rally – Lorenzi broke once more to become the first man to take a set off the Brit this week.
By this point Lorenzi was doing a remarkably accurate impression of David Ferrer. Having only hit four winners in the second set, the Italian was earning points through his relentless running, making a mockery of his age and the fact he played for five hours against Gilles Simon on Thursday. Nevertheless, the third set started in the same fashion as the second, with a Murray break. This time, though, the Olympic gold medalist backed it up, and finally started to exert his authority on the match.
The key to that might have been a restringing of Murray's racquets. His coach Jamie Delgado could be seen courtside at one point, and Murray revealed after the match that he had changed the tension of his racquet. It made a difference. Once again, Murray started the fourth set with a break of serve, and just about managed to keep the indefatigable Lorenzi at bay to seal his passage into the fourth round.
WHAT IT MEANS: First, the good news. Murray became the third British player to reach the fourth round here, which is the first time that’s happened since 1985. Actually, that’s about it for good news.
We know Murray will raise his level when the going gets tough, but for the first two sets Murray arguably played as badly as he has at any point in a significant tournament this year – he finished the match with 63 unforced errors and only had a 53 percent success rate on his first serve.
While that level was still high enough to just about see off Lorenzi, this was nothing less than a grind. The world No. 2 is one of the fittest players on the tour, but tennis is a game of the finest margins, and the 3 hours and 17 minutes he spent on court here Saturday could take their toll later on in the tournament – particularly as Novak Djokovic has only played six games since the first round.
After blowing Lukas Rosol away in the first round, Murray looked a little out of sorts against Marcel Granollers, and decidedly off-color for the majority of this match. The Scot hasn’t been past the fourth round of the US Open since 2014, and his next opponent Grigor Dimitrov is firmly in the middle of a late-season resurgence. The Bulgarian famously beat Murray in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2014, and will pose a real test.
Credit must go to Lorenzi, though. Not many players look like they have more stamina than Murray, but the Italian appears to be one of them. This was a performance that demonstrated it’s never too late to make a breakthrough, and even if he never again replicates his efforts here, he can be extremely proud.
THE QUESTION: Can Andy Murray recover his best form in time for his fourth-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov?
Nick Kyrgios is out of the US Open after hip injury forces him to retire.....Illya Marchenko gets the win.
US Open.org Day 7 picks.
WOMEN
(8) Madison Keys vs. Caroline Wozniacki
American Keys has lived a charmed life so far in Flushing Meadows. She was down a set and a break to fellow American Alison Riske in the opening round, at one stage just two points away from crashing out of the tournament when Riske led 5-4 in the second-set breaker, with two serves on her racquet. Then, in the third round against Naomi Osaka of Japan, Keys trailed 5-1 in the deciding set but sent the match to a tiebreak after Osaka failed to serve it out at 5-2 and again at 5-4. By contrast, former world No. 1 and two-time Open finalist Wozniacki is finishing her year strong after an otherwise disastrous, injury-plagued campaign. She’s only been to the fourth round of a major twice in the past two years, but Keys is playing much too inconsistently to keep avoiding defeat. Wozniacki takes this in three.
(14) Petra Kvitova vs. (2) Angelique Kerber
If there were any questions about Kerber’s killer instinct, she answered those emphatically with a 55-minute demolition of breakout teen CiCi Bellis inside Ashe on Friday evening. Kerber has dropped just 10 games in three matches, and only one of her six sets has been closer than 6-2. Kvitova is familiar with Kerber’s game, having defeated her four times in eight tries, including in the Fed Cup final in 2014 and the year-end WTA Championships in 2013, but Kerber has emerged victorious in their past two encounters. Kvitova has yet to drop a set so far, but Kerber is head-and-shoulders above any player in the field not named Serena. She wins in two surprisingly comfortable sets.
MEN
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Kyle Edmund
If you haven’t seen much of the 12-time Slam winner in Week 1, you’re not alone. Djokovic, who has contested the final in five of the past six years in New York, has spent just three hours, eight minutes on court to reach the fourth round, following a walkover against Jiri Vesely in Round 2 and a first-set retirement by Mikhail Youzhny after 31 minutes on Friday. Djokovic won their only meeting in Miami earlier this year, but the unseeded Edmund has found a rich vein of form with wins over Richard Gasquet in Round 1 and John Isner in Round 3. The 21-year-old is starting to live up to his huge potential, but a rested Djokovic is too much to handle. Djokovic has reached at least the semifinals in New York every year for a decade, and he’ll keep rolling in straight sets on Day 7.
(26) Jack Sock vs. (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Sock followed up his Davis Cup defeat of Croatia’s Marin Cilic in July with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Friday. In doing so, the Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist booked his place in the fourth round of the US Open for the first time and matched his deepest-ever run at a major. Tsonga, meanwhile, continued his bid to reach the second week with an impressive win over big-serving Kevin Anderson. The US Open is the only tournament where he has never advanced to the semifinals, but 2016 may not be in his favor, either, as the winner will likely play the defending champion in the quarters. Sock and Tsonga have never met on a hard court, but Sock and his overpowering forehand win in four.
WOMEN
(8) Madison Keys vs. Caroline Wozniacki
American Keys has lived a charmed life so far in Flushing Meadows. She was down a set and a break to fellow American Alison Riske in the opening round, at one stage just two points away from crashing out of the tournament when Riske led 5-4 in the second-set breaker, with two serves on her racquet. Then, in the third round against Naomi Osaka of Japan, Keys trailed 5-1 in the deciding set but sent the match to a tiebreak after Osaka failed to serve it out at 5-2 and again at 5-4. By contrast, former world No. 1 and two-time Open finalist Wozniacki is finishing her year strong after an otherwise disastrous, injury-plagued campaign. She’s only been to the fourth round of a major twice in the past two years, but Keys is playing much too inconsistently to keep avoiding defeat. Wozniacki takes this in three.
(14) Petra Kvitova vs. (2) Angelique Kerber
If there were any questions about Kerber’s killer instinct, she answered those emphatically with a 55-minute demolition of breakout teen CiCi Bellis inside Ashe on Friday evening. Kerber has dropped just 10 games in three matches, and only one of her six sets has been closer than 6-2. Kvitova is familiar with Kerber’s game, having defeated her four times in eight tries, including in the Fed Cup final in 2014 and the year-end WTA Championships in 2013, but Kerber has emerged victorious in their past two encounters. Kvitova has yet to drop a set so far, but Kerber is head-and-shoulders above any player in the field not named Serena. She wins in two surprisingly comfortable sets.
MEN
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Kyle Edmund
If you haven’t seen much of the 12-time Slam winner in Week 1, you’re not alone. Djokovic, who has contested the final in five of the past six years in New York, has spent just three hours, eight minutes on court to reach the fourth round, following a walkover against Jiri Vesely in Round 2 and a first-set retirement by Mikhail Youzhny after 31 minutes on Friday. Djokovic won their only meeting in Miami earlier this year, but the unseeded Edmund has found a rich vein of form with wins over Richard Gasquet in Round 1 and John Isner in Round 3. The 21-year-old is starting to live up to his huge potential, but a rested Djokovic is too much to handle. Djokovic has reached at least the semifinals in New York every year for a decade, and he’ll keep rolling in straight sets on Day 7.
(26) Jack Sock vs. (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Sock followed up his Davis Cup defeat of Croatia’s Marin Cilic in July with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Friday. In doing so, the Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist booked his place in the fourth round of the US Open for the first time and matched his deepest-ever run at a major. Tsonga, meanwhile, continued his bid to reach the second week with an impressive win over big-serving Kevin Anderson. The US Open is the only tournament where he has never advanced to the semifinals, but 2016 may not be in his favor, either, as the winner will likely play the defending champion in the quarters. Sock and Tsonga have never met on a hard court, but Sock and his overpowering forehand win in four.
Sevastova has arrived after early retirement.
When Anastasija Sevastova called it quits three years ago, she was unequivocal: the Latvian, then 23, was grateful for her tennis career but she was ready to move on.
"Because of almost three years of continuing illnesses, injuries and the related problems, I don't see myself carrying on,” she said, according to the WTA. "I am and will always be grateful for everything tennis has given to me. Thank you to the WTA and the ITF for the support – and my most sincere wishes of success to everybody involved in tennis."
And, by all accounts, while her career hadn’t ended on her terms, Sevastova enjoyed the normalcy of life away from the game.
“The best part's you're staying in one place,” she said at a post-match press conference at the US Open this week. “You have home. You can meet friends. You can do normal stuff. Yeah, you're not traveling that much, but you still have more time for everything, for family, for boyfriend, studying, just enjoying.”
When she decided to come back about a year after she left, she said she did so with no expectations. She said she felt good, better than she had in a long time – a nagging elbow injury and other ailments had abated.
But there was no way anyone, including Sevastova, could have predicted what unfolded this week: on Wednesday an improbable second-round victory, 7-5, 6-4, over No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the first Top 5 victory of her career. She followed it up with a convincing performance Friday with a much steadier win over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the third round, who had beaten her three times previously.
While she had allowed Muguruza back in the contest after match points serving at 5-2earlier in the week, this time, up 6-4, 5-1, she closed with a steady hand.
She'll face No. 13 Johanna Konta Sunday in the Round of 16.
Will Sevastova have conquered her US Open nerves for her second-week showdown?
She addressed the question of playing on the big stage after she beat Muguruza. "I think I manage it better now that I stay in the moment. I mean, sometimes it's tough to stay in the moment. It's tough to not look ahead. Like when I play now 5-2, I was looking ahead. I had match points. You have to have it under control.”
Regardless of any jitters, Sunday will mark something of a milestone. It was just last year when Sevastova had been thrilled simply to be back at the US Open, albeit far from primetime, losing in the first round of qualifying.
Sevastova was more relaxed after her Court 17 third-round win over Bondarenko, when she jokingly swatted aside a reporter's question about whether she was happy she had come back. "No, I'm not," she joked. She did seem taken aback at her sudden celebrity. "They're putting in the press about my private life on Instagram."
By all accounts, Sevastova’s career had been respectable when she hung it up in 2013. She’d become the first Latvian in 20 years to win a WTA title, in 2010. (The other was when Larisa Savchenko, who won Schenectady in 1993). She’d beaten Top 10 players and, in 2011, made it to the second week of the Australian Open.
Now, she seems to have readjusted to life on tour, including the more grueling parts; the life of a professional athlete is a more monastic existence in between the lights of Ashe and the press conferences. She touched on her recent past and reflected on the present this week, when she said she’d celebrate her big win even though others, including her mother, could enjoy the victory in ways she can't now that she's back in the game.
“We'll maybe go somewhere,” she said. “They will drink; I will watch.”
When Anastasija Sevastova called it quits three years ago, she was unequivocal: the Latvian, then 23, was grateful for her tennis career but she was ready to move on.
"Because of almost three years of continuing illnesses, injuries and the related problems, I don't see myself carrying on,” she said, according to the WTA. "I am and will always be grateful for everything tennis has given to me. Thank you to the WTA and the ITF for the support – and my most sincere wishes of success to everybody involved in tennis."
And, by all accounts, while her career hadn’t ended on her terms, Sevastova enjoyed the normalcy of life away from the game.
“The best part's you're staying in one place,” she said at a post-match press conference at the US Open this week. “You have home. You can meet friends. You can do normal stuff. Yeah, you're not traveling that much, but you still have more time for everything, for family, for boyfriend, studying, just enjoying.”
When she decided to come back about a year after she left, she said she did so with no expectations. She said she felt good, better than she had in a long time – a nagging elbow injury and other ailments had abated.
But there was no way anyone, including Sevastova, could have predicted what unfolded this week: on Wednesday an improbable second-round victory, 7-5, 6-4, over No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the first Top 5 victory of her career. She followed it up with a convincing performance Friday with a much steadier win over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the third round, who had beaten her three times previously.
While she had allowed Muguruza back in the contest after match points serving at 5-2earlier in the week, this time, up 6-4, 5-1, she closed with a steady hand.
She'll face No. 13 Johanna Konta Sunday in the Round of 16.
Will Sevastova have conquered her US Open nerves for her second-week showdown?
She addressed the question of playing on the big stage after she beat Muguruza. "I think I manage it better now that I stay in the moment. I mean, sometimes it's tough to stay in the moment. It's tough to not look ahead. Like when I play now 5-2, I was looking ahead. I had match points. You have to have it under control.”
Regardless of any jitters, Sunday will mark something of a milestone. It was just last year when Sevastova had been thrilled simply to be back at the US Open, albeit far from primetime, losing in the first round of qualifying.
Sevastova was more relaxed after her Court 17 third-round win over Bondarenko, when she jokingly swatted aside a reporter's question about whether she was happy she had come back. "No, I'm not," she joked. She did seem taken aback at her sudden celebrity. "They're putting in the press about my private life on Instagram."
By all accounts, Sevastova’s career had been respectable when she hung it up in 2013. She’d become the first Latvian in 20 years to win a WTA title, in 2010. (The other was when Larisa Savchenko, who won Schenectady in 1993). She’d beaten Top 10 players and, in 2011, made it to the second week of the Australian Open.
Now, she seems to have readjusted to life on tour, including the more grueling parts; the life of a professional athlete is a more monastic existence in between the lights of Ashe and the press conferences. She touched on her recent past and reflected on the present this week, when she said she’d celebrate her big win even though others, including her mother, could enjoy the victory in ways she can't now that she's back in the game.
“We'll maybe go somewhere,” she said. “They will drink; I will watch.”
