6 male and 6 female seeded players are ousted on day 3 at the 2017 US Open. No. 4-seed Sascha Zverev in the men’s draw and No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki in the women’s event are the most notable upsets. Maria Sharapova now has a highway to the semifinals. Kyrgios is out too, which is good news for Roger Federer.
NEW YORK, FLUSHING MEADOWS – There is no such thing as consistency for Nick Kyrgios. After reaching the final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and being credited as one of the most dangerous players at this year’s US Open, the Australian rising star suffered a stunning first round defeat against fellow countryman John Millman, who is currently No. 235 in the ATP rankings. During the match, Kyrgios received multiple warnings from the chair umpire for audible obscenity. He also smashed and broke a racquet almost in two.
Kyrgios is young and talented, but will he ever change? Nick is the type of player that thrives in big matches against the top players, but he also struggles with motivation in routine days at the office and often throws in the towel against lower-ranked opponents. Kyrgios’ defeat is excellent news for Roger Federer, who could have clashed with the Aussie in a blockbuster round of 16 encounter.
Another surprising result was the defeat of No. 4 seed Sascha Zverev of Germany against Borna Coric of Croatia. Zverev, who had some incredible wins at Masters 1000 level this year, failed to produce his best tennis on the biggest stages: He lost in the third round in Australia, first round in Paris, fourth round at Wimbledon and second round here in New York. Coric defeated Zverev 7-6 in the third in Cincinnati two years ago and yesterday the Croatian had the best of the German again after saving three consecutive set points at 5-6, 0-40 in the fourth set and preventing the match from going to a fifth.
Coric will now face Kevin Anderson in the third round and the winner of that match will eventually clash with the winner of the surprising Italian derby between Lorenzi and Fabbiano, in a wide-open section of the men’s draw.
After Murray’s withdrawal, Zverev’s upset and Tsonga’s defeat, the bottom half of the draw is now anybody’s tournament. We could be headed for an all-Croatian semifinal between Cilic and Coric, even though the American media is hoping for the two giants Isner and Querrey to go deep in the tournament. At 18 years of age, “the new kid on the block” Dennis Shapovalov of Canada sent Tsonga packing last night and is now the youngest player to reach the third round since Donald Young ten years ago. Young failed to live up to the expectations throughout his career, but Shapovalov is more talented, which doesn’t necessarily mean that he will prevail over Kyle Edmund of Great Britain in the next round.
In the women’s tournament, Maria Sharapova continues to advance, despite a three-set battle against Timea Babos. Unlike Kyrgios, who sometimes gives less than 50%, Sharapova always battles at 120%. What a substantial difference!
Maria now has an extraordinary draw to the semifinals. She certainly helped her cause by knocking out the No. 2 seed Simona Halep, while No. 7 Konta, No. 11 Cibulkova, No. 21 Konjuh, No. 22 Peng and No. 32 Davis all lost to lower-ranked opponents. No. 16 Sevastova and No. 30 Goerges are the only two seeds that have survived in Maria’s section of the draw.
Sharapova has made too many unforced errors and looked far from her best so far in the tournament, but at this point it would be surprising if she didn’t reach the semis. In the next round Maria will face Sofia Kenin – a young opponent who is now playing for the United States but was born in Russia like Sharapova.
The women’s event started with eight players that could potentially reach the No. 1 position in the WTA rankings at the end of the tournament, but three of them have already been knocked out after only three days of competition. Yesterday it was Caroline Wozniacki’s turn to be sent home by Ekaterina Makarova, who is always a dangerous floater at any Grand Slam tournament. Makarova also upset Serena Williams at the Australian Open a few years ago and is no stranger to big time tennis.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
