TENNIS US OPEN – The biggest upset of the day was the dismissal of 8th seed Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to Karolina Pliskova 5-7 4-6. Serena Williams dismantled fellow American Vania King 6-1 6-0 in less than an hour. From New York, Cordell Hackshaw
US Open: All the interviews, results, draws and OoP
Although the temperatures were not as high today as they were yesterday, the tennis at the US Open was still hot. The biggest upset of the day was the dismissal of 8th seed Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to Karolina Pliskova 5-7 4-6. Ivanovic led early in the match, 3-1 but gave back the break. She would serve for the set up 5-4 but could not close it out. Pliskova took advantage of this wandering Ivanovic to take the set 7-5. In the 2nd set, Pliskova was the one dictating play and got the decisive break for 5-4 and then served out the match for the upset, 7-5 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes.
Pliskova after the match said, “I think I played one of my best matches this year … I was serving well. But I was trying to play aggressive … She played good. But she did few mistakes which I think was the deciding point.” Ivanovic stated, “It was very tough out there for me today. I really struggled to find my rhythm and made way too many unforced errors … [M]y forehand wasn’t working at all … I couldn’t rely on it,” Ivanovic had 27 winners and 29 errors compared to Plishkova who had 25 winners and 19 errors. This is Pliskova’s first time in the 3rd round of a major. She will play Casey Dellacqua (29) for a place in the Round of 16. Dellacqua beat Qiang Wang 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Serena Williams (1) dismantled fellow American Vania King 6-1 6-0 in less than an hour. However, it was far from a stellar performance. Williams struggled with her serve. She was only getting 56% of her 1st serves but won 88% of those points. Her 2nd serve was not very reliable as she won only 42% of those points. Added to this, Williams had 4 aces and 5 double faults. Her serving woos were nothing compared to King, whose serve was under threat every single time, winning 36% of the points behind her 1st serve and 30% behind her 2nd. Williams will play yet another American in the 3rd round, Varvara Lepchenko. Lepchenko advanced to the 3rd round after beating Mona Barthel 6-4 6-0.
Victoria Azarenka (16) also beat an American in her 2nd round matchup. She played Christina McHale. McHale led early in the match at 3-1 but Azarenka came storming back to take the next 8 games, 6-3 3-0 before McHale was able to get back onto the scoreboard. Azarenka maintained this lead and closed out the match 6-3 6-2 in an hour and 46 minutes. “I think she started really well. I felt like I was a little bit … watching too much and not aggressive enough … I was able to turn things around and I stayed in the moment and really as working my way through and trying to find the rhythm,” Azarenka said. The two-time finalist here will next play Elena Vesnina. Vesnina beat Marina Erakovic 7-5 2-6 6-4.
Petra Kvitova (3) won over her countrywoman Petra Cetkovska 6-4 6-2. Flavia Pennetta (11) and Carla Suarez-Navarro (15) were also straight set winners over two American players. Pennetta beat Shelby Rogers 6-4 6-3 and Suarez-Navarro dismissed Coco Vandeweghe 6-3 6-3. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (30) also went through but in 3 sets over Monica Niculescu 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Three seeded players were also upset. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (23) lost to American wildcard Nicole Gibbs 4-6 7-66 3-6. The American served for the match three times in the 2nd set but was unable to close it out. In the 3rd set, she was having difficulties hold serve but she was finally able to consolidate the break for the match win. Gibbs will play Pennetta in the 3rd round. 2011 champion was also sent packing when Kaia Kanepi dismissed her 3-6 6-3 7-68. Kanepi will play Suarez-Navarro in the 3rd round. Madison Keys (27) who looked in impeccable form during her 1st round match here was also upset. Aleksanra Krunic, a qualifier, took out the American 7-64 2-6 7-5. Krunic plays Kvitova in the 3rd round.
