Sunday, September 1, 2024

USA players dominate the U.S. Open round of 16

There are only sixteen women left standing at the U.S. Open, and three of them are U.S. players. Defending champion and 3rd seed Coco Gauff, 6th seed Jessica Pegula, and 13th seed Emma Navarro have all made their way to the second week of the tournament. Both Gauff and Navarro had to get past some tough opponents--Gauff defeated Elina Svitolina in three sets, and Navarro had to get past the always-bringing-trouble Marta Kostyuk, also in three sets. 

I had expected Danielle Collins to make a deep run in New York, but injury kept her out of Cincinnati, which was a bad sign, and--sure enough--she went out to Caroline Dolehide in the first round, thus ending her career in majors. 

Navarro and Gauff will play each other in the round of 16, and Pegula will face up-and-coming Russian Diana Shnaider.

The overall favorite to win the U.S. Open is 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka, who arrived in Flushing Meadows straight off of a no-sets-dropped Cincinnati victory. Sabalenka's next opponent is 33ard seed Elise Mertens, who took out 14th seed (and 2017 runner-up) Madison Keys in the third round. 

The absolute popcorn match of the tournament--and maybe of the year--will be the fourth round contest between Karolina Muchova and 5h seed Jasmine Paolini. Muchova is a stunningly gifted player, but her career has been halted again and again by injury and surgery. In a "fair" world, she would have already won her share of majors. Last year, she reached the semifinals (after reaching the final of the French Open), and lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff. 

Paolini reached the final of both the French Open and Wimbledon this year, and is the latest model of the revered Fighting Italian, using every fiber of her small being to flummox opponents. There is no way that this will be anything but a really good match.

And let's not forget that 2022 champion and world number 1 Iga Swiatek would undoubtedly like to win another U.S. Open title. Swiatek has had (for her) a tough summer, losing in the semifinals at the Olympics (at Roalnd Garros, the venue of her greatest success), and--more recently--losing in the Cincinnati semifinals to Sabalenka.

Here is the singles round of 16 draw:

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Liudmila Samsonova (16)
Diana Shnaider (18) vs. Jessica Pegula (6)
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (22)
Karolina Muchova vs. Jasmine Paolini (5)
Paula Badosa (26) vs. Wang Yafan
Emma Navarro (13) vs. Coco Gauff (3)
Zheng Qinwen (7) vs. Donna Vekic (24)
Elise Mertens (33) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

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