OK time for part 2 of my posts on the US Open, and there has been plenty more developments with some real surprise results so let's have a look at em.
Right starting with the ladies, there was a couple of big upsets, and they came from the British No.2, Laura Robson, who in the 2nd played the former US Open champion, Kim Clijsters, who was set to retire her career after this tournament. And naturally Kim entered this match the favourite to win, however Laura showed some great resistance, and despite at one point in the 1st set going 4-1 down, she battled back to level the score and pushed the set to a tiebreak, which she won to take her first ever set against a former World No.1 player. In the second set things were more evenly pegged as the two players went at it, striking the ball big and deep, and Laura kept her own against the Belgium, pushing the match to a 2nd set tiebreak. And in the tiebreak Laura did the unthinkable in winning the match and knocking out an undefeated Kim Clijsters at the US Open (since 2005!) and ended the Belgian's illustrious career with a stunning 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory. This was an excellent match and Laura's level of play throughout was superb, and despite her World No.89 ranking, she played very much like a top 10 player in defeating Kim Clijsters, who got a big ovation as she walked off court and rightly so. And in the 3rd round Laura's remarkable form continued as she defeated the former French Open champion Li Na in another great victory, winning in 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.
This marked the first time in 14 years that a British female player had reached the 4th round of a grand slam since Sam Smith back in 1998 at Wimbledon. And it also really shows that Laura is a talented to be reckoned with, and in time she could become a formidable player, that could even emulate Andy Murray's success in comparison, but for now Laura should be delighted with her wins. And next up for Laura is another grand slam champion, Sam Stosur, the defending US Open champion, but can she go for a hattrick to reach the quarter finals???? I hope so, but we will have to say, my money would be against that one, but you never know, so fingers crossed for her.
In other ladies matches the aforementioned Sam Stosur knocked out Varvara Lepchenko of the US, in straight sets, after a tight first set, Sam run away with the match to secure a 7-6, 6-2 win to set up her 4th place round with Laura Robson. Maria Sharapova on other hand had no trouble whatsoever in getting past the American qualifier, Mallory Burdette in a crushing 6-1, 6-1 win. Nadia Petrova had a tougher passage though against the Russian player, Nadia Petrova as she fought her way to victory in 6-4, 7-5. Marion Bartoli, who has had a disappointing slam season this year so far, however managed to pick up her form in beating fellow French player, Kristina Melandovic in 6-2, 6-4, which sets up a very intruiging 4th round with Petra Kvitova, who won her match against Pauline Parmentier of France in 6-4, 6-4. And finally Victoria Azarenka, the top seed and World No.1 blasted her way past Zheng Jie of China, dropping only one game, with a 6-0, 6-1 rout. Other 3rd round matches will follow today with Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Maria Kirilenko, and what could promise to be that match of the day from the ladies, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic. So it all looks good!
Now for the men's where we have had quite a number of comebacks from the players who were 2 sets to love down, in fact there have been at least 10 of them! Starting with Mardy Fish who battled back into his match with Nikolai Davydenko from 2 sets down to win in 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Marin Cilic also did the same in his match in the 1st round against Marinko Matesovic with a 5-7, 2-6, and Alexandr Dolgopolov as well in his 1st round match against Jesse Levine in 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. There was a big upset however in the men's with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga going out in the 2nd round against the Slovak player, Martin Klizan who won in 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. James Blake on the other hand, had not much trouble at all in getting past the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Milos Raonic, the fast improving big Candian, also made progress in a tougher match against the French player, Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4, 7-6, which sets up his 3rd round clash with Blake, which could prove to be a very good match. And Tomas Berdych blasted his way past Jurgen Zopp (cool name!) with a simple 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory, which sets up a very intruiging 3rd round with Sam Querrey. Juan Martin Del Potro had a tougher time playing the young American, Ryan Harrison, as it took him 4 sets to dismiss the plucky Yank in 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
But as for the big guns well they so far have not had many troubles (the big three that is) as Roger Federer came through his 2nd round with ease against Bjorn Phau in 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, and Novak Djokovic breezed past the Brazilian player, Roger Dutra da Silva in 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. And finally out of the top 3, Andy Murray also breezed past the talented Croatian player, Ivan Dodig, whom we expected a potentially tough match against, but Andy established his authority early on and went to win in 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. This match was a big improvement from Andy, after such a ropey first round, he came out strong, and served fairly well (57% first serves is not too bad for him!) and put on an aggressive display to put away the Croatian with little bother. This sets up a 3rd round with Feliciano Lopez, with whom Andy has an excellent record against, as the Spaniard has never beaten him (much to the dismay of Judy Murray who fancies Lopez! ;-)).
However there was a surprise announcement from the men's tour as Andy Roddick has followed suit with Kim Clijsters as he announced he will retire from tennis after the US Open as well. Roddick decided that he felt that physically his body wouldn't really stand up to another full season and that it was time to throw in the towel. This is a greaty pity as Roddick has been a terrific player in the past, regardless in recent years he has struggled with his form, but this year he has refound it by winning two titles on Eastbourne on grass, and Atlanta on hard court, which proves the old dog still had something to give. However despite the news, Roddick can look back on what has been a very impressive career, having won the US Open back in 2003, being the finalist at Wimbledon three times (losing to Federer each time) and with 32 career titles to his name. Its alot to be proud of I'm sure and the tennis world will miss him no doubt, as he was quite a character on and off court too. And for now Roddick still remains in the US Open as he has secured his 3rd round place after beating Bernard Tomic with ease in 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, so we will see how far he can go, before he puts down that racquet.
Right well that's it for now, more to follow on the men's 3rd round and ladies 4th round matches as they progress.
Tarra!
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