The Nation Newspaper

Tag: US OPEN

  • Vondrousova, Norrie withdraw from US Open

    Vondrousova, Norrie withdraw from US Open

    Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and British number two Cameron Norrie have withdrawn from the U.S. Open, the USTA said as both players recover from injuries that kept them out of the Paris Olympics.

    Czech Vondrousova withdrew from the Games due to a hand injury, saying her focus was on being ready for the year’s final Grand Slam, which starts on Aug. 26 in New York.

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    Norrie, whose best U.S. Open result came in 2022 when he reached the fourth round, pulled out of the Olympics due to a forearm injury.

    I didn’t realise that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.

    “I’ll take some rest and recharge,” Norrie wrote on Instagram. “Can’t wait to get back competing like a dog.”

  • Golden Gauff reaches historic US Open semi-final

    Golden Gauff reaches historic US Open semi-final

    Coco Gauff thrashed Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the US Open for the first time yesterday.

    American sixth seed Gauff dominated Latvia’s 20th seed Ostapenko from start to finish, winning 6-0, 6-2 in just 1hr 8min.

    Gauff, 19, will face either Czech 10th seed Karolina Muchova or Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the last four tomorrow.

    Gauff, beaten in the quarter-finals last year, is the first American teenager to reach the US Open semi-finals since 2001.

     “It feels great, I’m so happy,” said Gauff. “Last year I lost in the quarter-finals stage and wanted to do better this year. I have a long way to go but I’m happy and will be ready for the next one.”

    Read Also: US OPEN: Djokovic salutes Swiatek, Gauff

     “I didn’t feel comfortable at all the whole match, even at match point. She has the ability to come back no matter the scoreline so I was just trying to play every ball and hit it deep.”

    On Tuesday’s evidence, the American teenager will head into the last four brimming with confidence after producing a superb display to overwhelm Ostapenko.

    Ostapenko had produced the shock of the tournament in the last 16 on Sunday, ousting world number one and reigning women’s champion Iga Swiatek in three sets.

    But amid furnace-like heat on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the inconsistent Latvian wilted in the face of a scorching performance from her American opponent.

    Former French Open champion Ostapenko hit out at US Open scheduling after her defeat, stating she had not been given enough time to recover properly following her gruelling late-night victory over Swiatek on Sunday.

    “I think it’s really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating world No.1, I went to sleep at 5 a.m.,” Ostapenko said. “You sleep for maybe like seven, eight hours, but you don’t completely recover.

    “I think it’s a little bit crazy…If I play a match, a late-night session, then I suppose in one day I have to play at least at the same time or later on, because you don’t really have much time to recover.”

    Gauff broke Ostapenko’s serve three times in a lopsided first set which was over in 20 minutes, with the Latvian coughing 15 unforced errors to Gauff’s two.

    Ostapenko was soon in trouble in the second set, suffering a service break in the opening game when Gauff’s sublime drop shot left the Latvian scrambling to the net.

    However Ostapenko finally got on the board with a break of serve in the next game only to surrender that momentum in the next game when Gauff broke her for the fifth time for a 2-1 lead.

    The next three games went with serve before Gauff turned the screw to break for a 5-2 lead that left the teenager serving for the match.

    Although Ostapenko defiantly saved two match points, Gauff clinched victory with a forehand winner.

  • US OPEN: Djokovic salutes Swiatek, Gauff

    US OPEN: Djokovic salutes Swiatek, Gauff

    Novak Djokovic has hailed Iga Swiatek for her relentless winning mentality and predicted a very bright future for Coco Gauff.

    Swiatek did not have everything her own way in a second-round win over Daria Saville on Wednesday, but the Serbian believes the world No. 1 has proven she can overcome adversity time and time again.

    Speaking in his post-match press conference after beating Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Djokovic said: “Iga has been dominating the women’s game the last couple of years and is a multiple Grand Slam winner. I love her devotion and dedication.

    “Maybe she’s too humble to say this, but she’s got a great fighting spirit. She’s a warrior, she goes out there and doesn’t give a single game. Actually, she probably has the most bagels of anyone in women’s tennis over the last few years.

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    “It speaks about how seriously and professionally she’s taking every single point and game on the court. So that’s very admirable. I really like that kind of champion spirit and mindset.”

    The 23-time Grand Slam champion was also full of praise for Coco Gauff after she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old, and is confident that the American can consistently challenge for the sport’s biggest titles.

    “Coco is on the rise; she’s yet to win a Grand Slam, but has played in the finals. She’s still young, but now Brad Gilbert is on her side with the great experience of coaching some of the greats.

    “Things are coming together for her. She played really good tennis in Cincinnati and has also been playing well here. She’s got the home support, of course, which is always welcome and needed.

    “Physically she seems to be very fit. She’s striking the ball very well. She broke into the top of the women’s game quite early. She may have been 16 or 17 when she played in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

    “But it still takes some time for things to come together and when you feel ready to win slams and dominate the game.”

    Meanwhile, Djokovic is now preparing for a third-round clash against compatriot Laslo Djere – a player he knows well after competing alongside him at the Davis Cup.

    “I think he’s playing some of his best tennis on a hard court at the moment. He’s in very good form. It’s great for Serbian tennis that we have a match-up in the third round. So one Serbian is definitely going to be in the fourth round, which is always great for our tennis.

    “He’s one of the hardest workers on the tour and puts a lot of hours into care for his body and trying to build his form.

    “He’s physically very fit, so I must be ready for a physical battle.”

  • US Open: Belinda Bencic sends defending champion Osaka packing

     

    Less than 24 hours after showing teenage sensation Gauff Coco the exit door, US Open defending champion Naomi Osaka has equally been bundled out.

    Her 10-match US Open winning streak and title defence are done after she was outplayed in the fourth-round by Belinda Bencic in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat.

    Osaka has been wearing a black sleeve on her bothersome left knee and was visited by a trainer after getting broken to trail 3-2 in the second set.

    The result under the closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy Monday means both defending champions and No 1 seeds are gone before the quarter-finals at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

    Belinda Bencic defeated Osaka 7-5 6-4.

    Novak Djokovic stopped playing in his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka on Sunday night because of a painful left shoulder.

    Osaka made her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows a year ago, winning her first major championship by beating Serena Williams in a chaotic final that devolved after Williams got into an extended argument with the chair umpire.

    Osaka followed that up with a second consecutive Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open in January.

    That allowed her to become the first tennis player representing Japan to reach No 1 in the rankings.

    The 13th-seeded Bencic, who is from Switzerland and has been mentored by Martina Hingis, showed again that she is a big-match player.

    She improved to 3-0 against Osaka this season and now has a tour-leading nine victories over top-10 opponents in 2019.

  • Shooting Gesture: Mike Bryan gets $10,000 hammer at US Open

     

    Tennis Doubles Major Mike Bryan had a painful Sunday at the US Open after he was fined $10,000 for an angry gesture taking too far.

    The 6-time US Open doubles champion reacted angrily towards a line judge after what he considered an incorrect call. To drive home his anger, the 41 year old turned his racket, held it like a gun, and took aim at the line judge pretending to fire off a shot.

    The display was however not considered funny as he fined by Authorities for unsportsmanlike conduct, especially coming just a day after yet another high profile mass shooting in Texas.

    During the second set of the match, where Bryan and playing partner Bob Bryan took on Federico Delbonis and Roberto Carballes Baena, the ball was called in after landing close to the baseline. Mike Bryan challenged, and the ball was shown to be out.

    After making the gesture, umpire Mariana Alves called a code violation, explaining herself when a confused Bryan asked what he had done wrong, and spoke out about the incident afterwards.

    Bryan Brothers in action at the US Open

    ‘I apologise for any offense I may have caused. We won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful. But given the recent news and political climate I understand how my gesture could be viewed as insensitive. I promise that I will never do anything like this again.’

    The £8,200 fine is the largest punishment to be handed out at the US Open so far this year.

    The Bryans went on to win their second round match 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and will next battle the duo of Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow.

    Should the Bryan brothers make it all the way to the final and emerge champions they would pocket $740,000.00 less $10,000.

     

     

     

     

  • Osaka Challenge for ambitious and impressive Gauff Coco

     

    After an impressive run at the Wimbledon, 15 year old American tennis player Gauff Coco is again tickling the fancy of many with her performance at the US Open.

    Handed a wild card entry, Coco has so far left no one in doubt that the wild card was not a waste as she hit the third round in style beating Timea Babos 6-2 4-6 6-4 to set up a clash on Saturday against World number one Naomi Osaka.

    She was dubbed giant killer when she overcame Serena Williams at the Wimbledon and Saturday’s clash is another huge hurdle for the ever determined teenager who has warmed her way into the hearts of many tennis fans.

    The Osaka/Coco clash is huge and will indeed be the focus especially billed for an arena with a capacity of 24,000 spectators, the Arthur Ashe arena.

    World No.1  Osaka set for battle against ambitious Coco on Saturday

    The odds one may say favours Osaka 21 who clinched last year’s US Open and this year’s Aussie Open but the pressure also will be on her facing this Coco character who appears to have adopted operation fight to the finish as a her motto.

    The fans have been giving Coco the much needed support and it will be fun to see how they will react when Coco versus Osaka takes the centre stage.

    While Coco’s two defeated opponents Anastasia Potapova and Babos are from Russia and Hungary respectively Osaka has always been based in South Florida and did consider representing USA at a point despite having a Haitian father and Japanese mother.

    Coco is considered the underdog but her fighting spirit does not indicate that she will be overwhelmed on Saturday an indication that fans are in for a good show that will leave them perhaps asking for more. Three major players will be on parade on Saturday, Naomi, Coco and the crowd!

  • US Open: Teen sensation gives direct order ‘just call me Coco’

     

    Coco Gauff continued her fairytale rise with a comeback win over Anastasia Potapova on her US Open debut on Tuesday.

    The 15-year-old recovered from losing the first set 6-3 to claim the next two 6-2, 7-5 against a player 68 places higher up in the rankings.

    Gauff got a wild-card entry from the US Tennis Association after making a surprising run to the fourth-round at Wimbledon last month in the first Grand Slam tournament of her career.

    The American fell behind 3-0 at the start against Potapova, an 18-year-old from Russia, then was broken to begin the second set and third before turning things around at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

    The players’ combined age of 33 made it the youngest matchup of the first-round at Flushing Meadows.

    Gauff had hand-written a message on her trainers before the match, instructing her fans what to call her.

    It read: ‘Call me Coco’, and was scrawled in black marker pen.

    Coco reacts after earning a point at the US Open

    The teenager made the headlines after reaching the second week at Wimbledon earlier this summer.

    Despite being just a qualifier she beat her idol Venus Williams, 24 years her senior, 6-4, 6-4 in her maiden Grand Slam match.

    It had been five years since a player won a main draw match at the US Open prior to their 16th birthday; the last player to do it was CiCi Bellis

    Gauff next will face Hungary’s Timea Babos in the second round. Babos, 26, advanced earlier Tuesday after her first-round opponent, No. 28 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, retired after Babos won the first set 6-2.

    Should Gauff get past Babos, who is ranked 112th, she potentially could face world No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the third round.

     

  • US Open outburst: Umpires to boycott Serena’s matches

    The last certainly has not been heard over US Open ladies final outburst as Umpires are considering boycotting Serena Williams’ future games.

    Williams was docked a game during the defeat to Naomi Osaka for verbally abusing umpire Carlos Ramos, calling him a ‘thief’ and a ‘liar’ after he deducted a point from her for previous violations — coaching and smashing her racket.

    Now umpires could refuse to chair her matches due to discontent over the treatment of Ramos during the fallout of the match, according to The Times

    Following the match Williams cited sexism as the reason for her punishment, claiming that she had been treated more harshly than a man would have been.

    The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) have backed those claims following Williams’ straight sets defeat to Osaka.

    This has further ruffled the feathers of some umpires, with an anonymous official revealing there is a growing consensus that umpires are ‘not supported’ by the USTA, while Ramos was ‘thrown to the wolves for simply doing his job and was not willing to be abused for it’.

    There are now discussions about boycotting Williams’ matches between a group of umpires that lack a body to represent their interests.

    Ramos is deemed one of the more experienced umpires in the game with almost 30 years of experience but for overseeing the Grand Slam final he received a fee of just £370 — a standard daily rate.

    Ramos is a gold-badge umpire for the ITF, who have released a statement in support of him.

    It read: ‘Carlos Ramos is one of the most experienced and respected umpires in tennis. Mr Ramos’s decisions were in accordance with the relevant rules and were reaffirmed by the US Open’s decision to fine Ms Williams for the three offences.

  • US Open Crash: It was too hot for comfort-Federer

    Roger Federer admitted he struggled to breathe in the extremely humid conditions at Flushing Meadows after falling to one of his most surprising losses against John Millman at the US Open.

    Australian Millman had been given barely a sniff before the match, with excitement already building for a quarter-final clash between Federer and Novak Djokovic.

    The 29-year-old, who had never previously beaten a top-10 opponent, appeared to have even less chance of winning with Federer a set and a break up and holding two set points, but he somehow clawed his way back to clinch a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3) victory.

    While Millman, ranked 55, produced the performance of his life, Federer gave one of his poorest displays on the big stage, struggling with all parts of his game and making 76 unforced errors.

    The match did not finish until nearly 1am but the temperature was still around 30C with high humidity.

    Federer, perhaps looking and sounding his age, said: ‘I just thought it was very hot tonight. It was just one of those nights where I guess I felt I couldn’t get air. There was no circulation at all. For some reason I just struggled in the conditions. It’s one of the first times it’s happened to me.

    ‘It’s uncomfortable. Clearly you just keep on sweating more and more and more and more as the match goes on. You lose energy as it goes by.

    ‘But John was able to deal with it better. He maybe comes from one of the most humid places on earth, Brisbane. I knew I was in for a tough one. Maybe when you feel like that, as well, you start missing chances, and I had those. That was disappointing. ‘But, look, at some point also I was just happy that the match was over, I guess.

    ‘When you feel like that, everything is off. But I’ve trained in tougher conditions. I’ve played in the daytime at 120(F). Some days it’s just not the day where the body can cope with it.

    ‘I do believe since the roof is on that there is no air circulation in the stadium. I think just that makes it a totally different US Open.

     

     

     

     

     

  • US Open: Serena Williams returns with a bang!

    Serena Williams marked her return to the US Open with victory as she embarked on her bid for a seventh title at Flushing Meadows.

    Williams opened the night session on Arthur Ashe and proved too strong for Poland’s Magda Linette, winning 6-4, 6-0.

    It was her first match at the tournament since a semi-final loss to Karolina Pliskova in 2016, having given birth to daughter Olympia during the tournament 12 months ago.

    The 36-year-old did not hold back on the court after suffering a difficult build-up to the event

    Williams has had a difficult build-up to the tournament, suffering her most one-sided loss ever when she won just a single game against Johanna Konta in San Jose – she subsequently revealed she had learned just before the match that the man who killed her half-sister had been released from prison.

    Williams then lost to Petra Kvitova in the second round in Cincinnati but pulled away here after a tight opening to the match and needed just an hour and nine minutes to clinch victory.

    The 36-year-old, who is looking to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 slam singles titles, said: ‘It’s such a good feeling to be back out here. It’s an experience you can only live in New York and it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

    ‘The first set was tight. Once I got settled, I started doing what I’m trying to do in practice, so it helped a lot. I think I’m getting there. I’ve been feeling really good in practice.’

    Williams could face a third-round meeting with sister Venus, who won a tough battle against fellow former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, but Simona Halep is no longer in her section following her shock loss.

    It was a tough draw against big-hitting Kanepi, who is a six-time grand slam quarter-finalist, and Halep simply could not find her rhythm as she slipped to a second successive first-round loss having been beaten by Maria Sharapova 12 months ago.

    It was the 12th time Halep has lost in the opening round of a slam, and she said: ‘I never play my best tennis here, even if I did quarter-finals, semi-finals. The city is busy. I’m a quiet person, so maybe I like the smaller places.

    Defending champion Sloane Stephens eased into the second round with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russian Evgeniya Rodina.

    The third seed said: ‘The first round of a grand slam is super tough, especially as defending champion. I’m super excited to get the tournament going.’

    Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is back in New York for the first time in three years as a wild card after the birth of son Leo and then the custody battle that limited her travel, and she battled to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova.