Saturday, September 2, 2023

Four U.S. players reach round of 16 at U.S. Open

The U.S.A.'s top player, 3rd seed Jessica Pegula, is set to compete in the U.S. Open round of 16. Montreal champion Pegula has defeated always-dangerous Camila Giorgi, Patricia Maria Tig, and the resurgent Elina Svitolina. Her next opponent will be friend, countrywoman and 2017 finalist Madison Keys. Keys, seeded 17th, defeated 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round. 

Undoubtedly a highly anticipated fourth round match will be played by 6th seed Coco Gauff and Caroline Wozniacki, who has come out of retirement and is making quite an impact in New York. Wozniacki has already taken out Petra Kvitova and Jennifer Brady (who also just returned to the tour and who also looks like she never left). 

Finally, Peyton Stearns--who played for the University of Texas and became that state's first NCAA champion in women's tennis--will face Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

The third round wasn't without drama. A sick Ons Jabeur played an injured Marie Bouzkova, and--at times--it was painful to watch them struggle. I thought that Bouzkova was going to retire, but she took an anti-inflammatory and was able to carry on. And it took her almost three hours, but perennial giant-killer Sorana Cirstea was at it again--this time taking out 4th seed Elena Rybakina. The 33-year-old Romanian has won only two tournaments, yet--over and over--she has upset the biggest names at majors. 

Top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek has lost nine games so far, and the scoreline for two of her matches was 6-0, 6-1.

Here is the round of 16 draw:

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Alona Ostapenko (20)
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Coco Gauff (6)
Sorana Cirstea (30) vs. Belinda Bencic (15)
Karolina Muchova (10) vs. Wang Xinyu
Peyton Stearns vs. Marketa Vondrousova (9)
Madison Keys (17) vs. Jessica Pegula (3)
Ons Jabeur (5) vs. Zheng Qinwen (23)
Daria Kasatkina (13) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

Wang's and Zheng's place in the draw marks the first time that two Chinese women have ever advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open.

No comments: