Canada's Vasek Pospisil unleashed 26 winners to defeat Slovakia's Jozef Kovalik in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday. The victory was Pospisil's first main draw win at the U.S. Open since 2011.
Following match point, Pospisil's elation was evident as he pumped his fists in celebration.
"I finally recognized myself on the court," said the 26-year-old from Vernon, B.C., ranked 123rd in the world. "It was a great match for me. I lost [myself] for a while, but I'm back now."
Next up for Pospisil will either be Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka or South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
Later Monday, fifth seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., faced Germany's Dustin Brown.
Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard, ranked 40th in the world, is scheduled to play her first-round match Tuesday against 73-ranked Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
Adding intrigue to Bouchard's tournament is the fact she is in the process of suing the U.S. Tennis Association. She launched the suit after slipping and hitting her head in the locker room at last year's event.
Nadal wraps up win, Isner rallies
Playing with his left wrist heavily bandaged, Rafael Nadal won his first Grand Slam match in more than three months, easily beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at the U.S. Open.
Nadal's first-round victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday was straightforward. He produced 14 of his 21 winners via his forehand, which showed little sign of being troubled by a wrist he says is still not completely healed.
Nadal hadn't played at a major since winning his second-round match at the French Open on May 26. He then withdrew from Roland Garros before the third round and sat out Wimbledon because of the problematic wrist.
Rafael Nadal breezes into 2nd round at US Open0:45
In a matchup of American tennis present and future, 31-year-old John Isner rallied from down two sets to edge 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the U.S. Open.
The 125th-ranked Tiafoe had a chance to serve out the match in the fifth set Monday, but Isner broke back then pulled away in the final tiebreaker to win 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3) in 3 hours, 27 minutes.
It was just the second career comeback from two sets down for Isner. Tiafoe had never before played a five-set match.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champ, is through to the second round with a straight-set win.
The seventh-seeded Cilic beat 108th-ranked Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 on Monday despite posting more unforced errors than winners (24-23). Cilic is coming off his first Masters title, beating Andy Murray in the final at Cincinnati.
Muguruza pulls through, Kerber breezes
French Open champ Garbine Muguruza lost the first set, called for the trainer and complained about trouble breathing. She won the second set without dropping a game, then pulled out a tough third set to move on at the U.S. Open.
The third-seeded Spaniard beat Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round Monday. She had to save a break point at 3-3 in the third.
The 22-year-old Muguruza went just 3-3 in her next six matches after winning her first major title at Roland Garros, before making a semifinal run at Cincinnati.
With temperatures in the low 90s, the heat rule went into effect before the third set, giving the players a 10-minute break.
The 137th-ranked Mertens is 20 years old and was making her Grand Slam debut. This was the first time she faced a top-20 opponent.
Muguruza has never gone past the second round at the U.S. Open.
Polona Hercog says she had been sick for several days before her first-round U.S. Open match, in which she retired after suffering from dizziness and cramping.
The 120th-ranked Slovenian was trailing 6-0, 1-0 to second-seeded Angelique Kerber on Monday. Hercog says she felt dizzy after long rallies, and her legs started cramping in the fourth or fifth game. The 90-degree heat didn't help.
Bellis stuns, Wozniacki opens Grandstand
American teen CiCi Bellis is now 2-for-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open.
The darling of the 2014 tournament after she stunned Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova as a 15-year-old, Bellis is back in the main draw this year and beat 65th-ranked Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-3 on Monday.
Bellis, now 17, is ranked 158th and advanced through qualifying to make the field. She next faces another American, Shelby Rogers, who upset 27th-seeded Sara Errani.
Two-time U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki rallied from a set down for her first Grand Slam match win of 2016.
Wozniacki beat American qualifier Taylor Townsend 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday in the first-ever match at the new 8,000-seat Grandstand. She lost in the first round at this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon and skipped the French Open because of a right ankle injury that forced her to miss 2 1/2 months. The former No. 1 player's ranking has slipped to 74th, and she's unseeded at Flushing Meadows for the first time since her debut in 2007.
The 20-year-old Townsend, ranked 146th, was playing her second U.S. Open.
Richard Gasquet, the first seeded player to lose at the U.S. Open, summed up his quick exit this way: "Not sure I could do worse."
The 13th-seeded Gasquet, a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows in 2013, hadn't lost in the first round at a Grand Slam tournament since the French Open 6 1/2 years ago.
His 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 loss Monday was the first career victory over a player ranked in the top 15 for No. 84 Kyle Edmund of Britain.
Vinci heats up Ashe
The woman who stunned Serena Williams at last year's U.S. Open en route to the final, Roberta Vinci of Italy, won the first match in the tournament's refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Vinci, who is seeded No. 7, overcame some second-set jitters to beat 46th-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.
In the 2015 semifinals at Flushing Meadows, Vinci — unseeded and ranked 43rd at the time — upset Williams, ending the American's bid for tennis' first calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years. That put Vinci into her first major final, where she lost to another Italian, childhood friend Flavia Pennetta.
U.S. Open: Canada's Vasek Pospisil advances to 2nd round in straight sets
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire